What's wrong with me?
by NatashaMikaelson
Summary: Tyler's left town and Caroline now starts to open up to her feelings for Klaus, but is it safe for her to trust the Original Hybrid after all he's put her and her friends through. Caroline is confused and doesn't know how to go about her emotions. Will she put herself in danger by letting Klaus into her heart? Post episode 4x09.
1. Chapter 1 - The Farewell

"You have to come with me Caroline", Tyler Lockwood said for what seemed like the hundredth time. Still, Caroline Forbes' answer did not change.

"I can't Tyler" she said. "I won't leave my mom and friends behind especially if you are right and Klaus is on a killing spree. He could easily go after my mother to get to me, and therefore get to you."

Tyler stood there watching her with his dark brown eyes. She could see he was hurt, both by his mother's death and by Caroline's refusal. She couldn't help it though, and if Tyler decided to flee, it was his decision. They had gone through so many rough paths in their relationship. All these difficult moments always seemed to be directly linked with Klaus. Their first argument came when Klaus had sired Tyler after transforming him into his first successful hybrid. Caroline had tried to convince Tyler to fight against the bond; to free himself from Klaus' power but Tyler just kept saying it was impossible that he couldn't do it… until Klaus told him to bite Caroline. She had almost died that night, the night of what would have been her 18th human birthday, but was saved by the Original hybrid himself, his blood being the cure to werewolf bites. Tyler had later left Mystic Falls to try and break the sire bond himself after almost killing William Forbes, Caroline's father. Caroline still couldn't stop thinking that if it wasn't for Tyler's attack, her father would still be alive right now. He had been given vampire blood at the hospital where he had been treated for his injuries to help him heal faster, and after being killed by bad Alaric and going through the vampiric transition state, he chose to let himself die, not wanting to become a bloodsucking monster.

Of course it wasn't fair to put all the blame on Tyler. If it wasn't for Klaus, Tyler would not have had to transform into a werewolf multiple times with the help of her father to break the sire bond, and then would not have attacked Mr. Forbes. Yet again, Tyler was a werewolf before Klaus came into town, the attack could still have happened in another situation. But she got over that feeling in time; she didn't want to think about her boyfriend as the reason for her father's death.

When Tyler came back, the sire bond broken, he learned about Klaus' gifts to his girlfriend and ran into Caroline at a dance where she was Klaus' date. Of course this didn't mean anything to Caroline, but Tyler got jealous and they went into a heated argument. Seriously, Caroline had thought, how could Tyler think that Klaus could fancy her, as far as she knew Klaus was incapable of having feelings for someone else other than himself. Tyler had been hard to convince but in the end he gave in. Then, when Caroline was asked to keep Klaus busy while their friend Stefan Salvatore was planning on freeing their other friend Elena Gilbert from his imprisonment, Tyler got pissed off because Caroline got Chris, one of Klaus' hybrid, killed by Jeremy Gilbert in order to save his sister from the hunter curse. Although Caroline knew she might have been insensitive to Tyler's feelings towards his hybrid friends she couldn't understand how he could put Chris in the same boat as Elena. After that he had been curious to know how Caroline got Klaus to sacrifice one of his hybrids and when she told him she agreed to go on a date with Klaus, he got so angry he threw his glass of scotch across the room in rage. Finally, their latest argument came when Tyler and Hayley had planned on taking down Klaus with the help of their now unsired hybrid friends. The hybrids had kept both Stefan and Caroline captive so they wouldn't interfere, and Caroline couldn't believe Tyler could do that to her and that he was going to sacrifice himself without letting her know of his plan in advance. She had been pissed at him but had in the end she had forgiven him.

Their confrontations were always heated and Tyler's reactions were always quite violent. Although he never physically attacked her, she always felt like he pointed out how thoughtless and stupid she was. She knew they had grown distant in the past few months, even more since Hayley came in the picture if you asked Caroline, and she felt sad at the thought that their relationship was slowly coming to an end.

"Tyler, I can't go with you. I'm sorry, but this is my final decision. If you wish to leave than I am sorry but you will need to do so alone." She hoped he would stay and they would fight Klaus together.

Tyler looked shocked but quickly recovered from the blow. He bowed his head, gazing at his feet.

"I won't be alone", he whispered but she could easily hear him with her vampiric hearing.

"Of course, how stupid of me" she said bitterly. "You're bringing Hayley with you."

"Don't say it like that", he spat. "I owe it to her, Care. I need to protect her, as male Alpha, she's part of my pack. At least what's left of it…"

"_She_'s the reason you're down to two pack members now" Caroline cried out. "She lied to you, went behind your back to get all your hybrid friends killed. For one thing _she_ is the reason why your mother is dea…"

Before she could finish her sentence she was pinned to the wall, Tyler's forearm across her throat.

"Klaus is the _only_ person responsible for my mom's death Caroline. And I will make him pay as soon as I find a way around the vampire bloodline problem. You don't want to be with me anymore, fine. Stay here. But just keep away from Klaus, stay safe."

He released her and without giving her the time to react he grabbed her in a tight embrace and kissed her lightly on her lips.

"I love you Care."

"Tyler …"

"Goodbye Caroline"

And just like that he had vanished. She wondered if she would ever see him again, and then finally, the emotions hit her hard and the tears slowly started coming down her cheeks.

* * *

Caroline woke up the next morning in her room quite dazzled by the light that came from her bedside window. She couldn't remember falling asleep. She remembered her encounter with Tyler. He had come to her house just a few minutes after she came back from the Salvatores' mansion. Stefan had been devastated after learning Damon and Elena had sex. She felt awful being the one to tell him the news, plus she had promised Elena she would keep the information to herself, but she couldn't keep that from Stefan, he was her friend after all, and after that big speech on trust and friendship, she had felt it was her duty to tell him.

When Tyler arrived on her doorstep he told her how their plan went wrong. How Hayley had gone behind his back and had had all their hybrid friends killed by Klaus. Finally he went back to the Christmas party to find his mother who had left him a message, and had found her drowned in the fountain. He was convinced his mother was killed by Klaus as a revenge to get him. She had held him in her arms saying soothing things trying to calm him down, she just couldn't process the information herself. He had later tried to convince her to follow him god knows where, away from Mystic Falls, away from her mother, away from her friends, but mainly away from Klaus. After he left she had cried for Carol, for the apparent end of her relationship with Tyler and finally she had cried because of Klaus.

This was all his fault. They had all lost so much because of that monster. She wanted to go to him right now and rip his head off. She couldn't believe that just a few hours ago, she had felt bad for him, she had felt bad for playing him and lying to him. She felt so stupid now. If Tyler was right and Klaus really did kill Carol out of revenge, she could never forgive him. She needed to know, she needed him to look her in the eyes and tell her he killed Tyler's mother. For some reason a part of her hoped he would belie the information, saying he had nothing to do with it.

She got up, brushed her hair, put on a pair of jeans and a silk blouse and left her house, ready for battle.


	2. Chapter 2 - Confrontation

Caroline had just arrived at the Mikaelsons' estate. Although she had been ready 2 hours ago to confront Klaus, she now doubted it was such a good idea. But Caroline Forbes was no coward. She got out of her car and walked to the front door telling herself she could do this.

Klaus opened the door after the first knock.

"Well hello love, to what do I owe the pleasure of having your company this morning", he said.

Although his voice had a pleasant tone to it, she could see he wasn't all that cheerful. She needed to remind herself he had committed mass murder the night before, that he was now left with no hybrids to command and that he could easily kill her in an instant. He probably was still pissed off but that didn't stop her from confronting him.

"What happened to Mrs Lockwood, Klaus? "she asked.

He instantly lost his smile.

"I am sorry Caroline but I have no idea what you are referring to", he said. He started closing the door on her but she pushed it back with her hand and advanced on him. She waited for him to back up, letting her in, but he just stood his ground, leaving them awfully close. She could smell his cologne and the scent made her head spin. She could also still smell a small trace of blood on him, probably stuck under his fingernails.

"What happened to Carol? " she pressed on. "I know you are behind her death Klaus, and don't insult me by denying it." She was looking right in his eyes and she could see the hurt there. Could it be possible Tyler had had it all wrong, that Carol was really just drunk and had fell into the fountain and drowned because she was unable to lift herself up. Klaus quickly snapped her out of her thought.

"She's dead" he said. "Drowned in a fountain I believe". He was looking right back at her and she was wondering if he was going to compel her to leave his sight. Although he did not make a move to make her leave it was clear he wasn't happy to see her.

"Did you kill her?" She couldn't help the tears glistening in her eyes. She held her breath and waited for his answer. Although she never had a great mother/daughter in-law relationship with Carol, she still felt bad for her death.

He stood there, their noses merely an inch apart, they were staring into each other's eyes completely unaware of their surroundings. Then he lowered his gaze and answered.

"Yes, I did".

As though he realized his reaction could reflect some kind of weakness on his part, he shot his head back up and held her gaze waiting for her to say something. He did feel bad for killing Carol but only because he knew Caroline would condemn such an act. He didn't know why, but her grief always got to him, ripping open his dead heart. He then saw her hand move up, he knew what she was going to do and didn't have the heart to stop her.

She slapped him across the face. Pure hatred reflecting on her beautiful features. When he saw her hand move up again he reacted instinctively this time and caught it in mid-air, holding it firmly in his hand.

"I wouldn't try that again, love" he said menacingly. He saw a glint of challenge pass in her eyes and she raised her other hand ready for another blow. He caught it easily with his other hand, trusted both her wrists in one of his strong hands, spun her around inside the house and pinned her against the front door with his body. They were so close now he had a hard time resisting the urges his body was claiming for. His lips were next to her ear and he whispered the next line trying to put as much threat in his voice as he could manage without giving up how much their closeness was making him dizzy. "I said, do not try that again, love".

"I hate you" she cried out. "How could you do this, why?" Tears were coming down her face now. He stood back a few centimeters looking into her eyes. He was still holding her wrists but at least he didn't hurt her. The proximity of their bodies was making her blood boil up inside. She told herself it was just because she was mad at him, but she wondered if that was the only reason. When she saw him reach up and brush a tear from her cheek, she blushed heavily. She saw him looking hungrily at her lips and she jerked away.

"Don't touch me, she spat. You're a monster." Again she saw something like hurt cross his features but he recovered quickly.

"How would you describe Tyler in this situation sweetheart?" he asked. "A poor victim? How can you still protect him after what he's done to you? Why do you care so much for what I've done?"

"Because Carol did not deserve to die", she yelled back. She wouldn't tell him about Tyler and her still being together when he killed the Mayor. After all it didn't change anything ; they were no longer together now. "And I care because for a few hours there you made me care about you, you made me believe you were not the monster everyone said you were. You had showed me a part of you extremely human and then you had to go and blow everything up by killing Carol!"

He whooped at the thought she cared for him, but then quickly frowned. He knew Caroline almost desperately clung to her humanity, was that the only way to get her attention, for him to show some vulnerability. He pushed the thought away.

"Tyler should have never gone against me. He knew what would happen to him if he crossed the line and he was lucky enough I let him live after he broke the sire bond. He only has himself to blame for his mother's death. "

"Is that what you tell yourself at night to get the guilt off your shoulders?" she said nastily.

"Don't push it Caroline", he said menacingly. "You may be beautiful and full of light, but that will not prevent me from snapping your neck to shut you up if you push your luck too much".

As she wondered if he would actually hurt her, he ran his hand from her collarbone, up her neck and rested his finger gently but firmly across her throat. The motion itself sent shivers down her spine, she tried to hide it but the smirk that came to his lips showed he hadn't been fooled.

"I think it's time you go home, love" he said, his voice hoarse, full of desire. "You look tired and you need to rest".

And then that was it, he led her on the front porch, finally released her wrists, gave her one of his most ravishing smile and closed his door up in her face.

She just stood there, too shocked to react.

"What's wrong with me"! she almost cried out.


	3. Chapter 3 - Bunnies and Bourbon

**A/N: Hi everyone! Thanks for the reviews/comments. I'm happy to see some of you like it. Okay so this chapter is a bit longer than the other two. Hope you'll enjoy it. Please review, I love reading your comments.**

**P.-S. English is a second language for me so there are probably lots of grammatical errors, but I try my best to correct them and reread myself at least 5 times before publishing any chapter.**

* * *

Caroline drove all the way to the Salvatores' Boarding House trying to understand her reactions back at the Mikaelsons' estate. She just couldn't figure out why her body was reacting the way it did to Klaus. She loathed him, why couldn't her body show that? Stupid hormones! She always felt extra horny ever since she turned into a vampire, but reacting that way with _Klaus_, of all people, was just ridiculous, especially after his latest actions. She needed to talk to Stefan, he seemed to be the only one in town who actually felt sympathy for the big bad hybrid, maybe he could reassure her and tell her she wasn't going crazy after all.

She was so angry with herself for almost drooling all over the enemy right after her breakup with Tyler, she almost ran over a rabbit that jumped right in front of her car, a few miles away from Stefan and Damon's driveway.

"Shit"- she yelled and jammed the breaks.

The rabbit continued on, seemingly unaware of how close he had been to being flattened out.

"Well if it isn't Blondie" she heard someone call out when she got out of her car.

Damon was on the second floor balcony outside Stefan's bedroom, she thought he seemed genuinely happy, drinking directly from a bottle of brown liquid. Bourbon, by the smell of it... Okay so maybe he was more drunk than happy, she corrected herself.

"Careful there or I'll have to tell my dear brother how you go around, rolling over his dinner. You know, I don't think he's into the Panini bunny diet, yet" he said with a smirk.

"Shut up Damon", she replied back coldly.

"Well someone's in a cheery mood, he said with a frown. What's gotten you in such a wonderful state, may I ask".

His clear blue eyes were analyzing her every move as she made her way to the front door not bothering answering him. In a flash he had jumped from the balcony and was at her side before she could put her hand on the door knob.

"What's happened?" he asked again, this time serious. He grabbed both her shoulders so she would look at him. "Is it Klaus? Did something happen with him…"

"Why does it have to be about Klaus?" she yelled out. Dammit, was she that easy to read?

He stepped back looking at her quizzically, "Well, maybe because as our personal little Miss Klaus-Trap, we were concerned of you being caught in his wrath last night… Although if you ask me, we should all be more preoccupied for the poor man's well-being, seeing how lovely and people-friendly you are this morning."

"Well it has nothing to do with him! This has something to do with me being pissed at you for being a jerk and using Elena to your advantage? "

Damon let go of her shoulders and stared back at her, his expression blank.

"Well, Elena is no longer sired to me so you can cut me some slack", he said frowning.

"Sure, you unsired her, but only after you had her in your bed first" she spat back. She didn't know why she was taking all her anger out on Damon but it just felt good at that moment.

"Careful Caroline, jealousy doesn't suit you well. I think it's best for you to leave now" his eyes had darkened and he was now deadly serious. He looked menacing and Caroline had to remind herself why she was there in the first place, and not just leave as he asked.

"I'm here to see Stefan, I need to talk to him" she said in a low voice. For some reason she now felt bad for launching all her frustration on the guy.

"He's not here, he said, halmost went all Riper on my head this morning, thanks to your discretion by the looks of it. Best fun I had in the last few years if you ask me. Anyways, he left an hour ago, so please, don't let my irresistible good looks keep you from walking back to your car and get the hell out of my sight. Leave. Now."

She had obviously crossed a line, and although he didn't have the power to compel her, she found she didn't want to have a fight with the elder vampire anymore. So she did as he asked, she walked back to her car and left.

A few minutes later, she parked in front of the Mystic Grill, feeling the excruciating need for a glass of whiskey, herself.

She walked into the bar and saw Matt cleaning up a table at the far end of the pool tables section. As she approached him she saw that he seemed worried and lost in his thoughts. He raised his head when she was a few feet from him and half-smiled at her.

"Hi Matt", she said, forcing a smile on her face as well, trying to sound happier than she really felt.

"Hey Caroline, apparently _he_ didn't feel the need to fake happiness. I heard about Tyler's mom. How's he doing?"

Caroline instantly lost her fake smile, "He's left town. Klaus killed Carol out of revenge and now Tyler's convinced Klaus would have killed him and anyone he loved if he'd have stayed in Mystic Falls any longer."

"And you didn't follow him" It was not a question; he was stating a fact, waiting for her explanation.

"I couldn't Matt, she said, her voice quivering. There are too many people I care about here. I think we broke up before he left." Matt contemplated the information for a minute and nodded. She continued on: "But enough about me, what's wrong with you, you seemed concerned over something when I came in, just now," she desperately needed them to change the subject, she just couldn't think about Tyler at the moment.

"I got a phone call from April this morning, he said. Remember how I told you she had Jeremy's vervain bracelet on, so you couldn't have compelled her as you thought you did last night?

"Yeah" she mumbled. She had almost forgotten about the _April problem_, as she called it. She had to find the new Miss Mystic Falls, snatch that bracelet off her wrist, before compelling her to forget she saw Caroline dead in the girl's washroom. Hell, she needed to make her forget she knew vampires now existed.

"So what did she tell you, she asked. Do you know where she is? I need to find her Matt."

"I know, but we have an even bigger problem on our hands. Remember how she befriended Rebekah a few months ago? Well, she somehow knew you guys were hiding Rebekah's body in the Lockwood cellar and she went there last night."

"Shit, that's my fault. I didn't know she had that damn bracelet on and I babbled about the coffin's location in front of her. Please don't tell me she undaggered Rebekah!"

"That's the problem, she didn't want to say anything once she understood I was in on the whole story. She hung up on me before I could tell her to be careful. I called Stefan as soon as I could. He was supposed to go to the cellar and stop April, but I haven't heard back from him in an hour. I was about to call Damon for help just now, before you came in."

A deep threatening voice came from behind, startling both of them.

"Well, mate, no need to call Damon, let me take care of that problem for you".

Caroline spun around to face Klaus. Even if he was a few feet away from her, she could still feel her body tense up.

"Klaus" she said trying to show how unhappy she was to see him after their earlier encounter.

"Hello, love. Fancy meeting you here" he said smirking at her.

She growled back at him which only made him chuckle back.

"Easy now, I'm here in peace" he said raising his hands in a peaceful gesture, but Caroline knew better. He could have easily flashed between both Matt and her, and snap their heads before they even realized where he had gone.

"So what was it you said about my dear sister?" he asked, and all of a sudden his voice had lost its sweetness and was menacing again. "I thought Stefan hid her well, as I had asked him to. Why did a mere mortal girl find her so easily? "

He was looking between Caroline and Matt waiting for an answer. That was it Caroline thought. This is the part when Klaus learns I had known all along about Tyler's plan to kill him and that it was my idea to bury him into his sister's body. For some reason she found she didn't want Klaus to know about it. Not because she was afraid he was going to kill her, but she realized it was because she did not want him to feel betrayed by her yet again. She automatically felt stupid for thinking that way. He was the bad guy, the enemy, who cared what he thought and how he felt about her. "I do" was what came to her mind.

"It was Tyler's plan to put your body into Rebekah's, and bury you both in concrete. Thought he would get us rid of two Originals with one stone. Quite clever if you ask me," Matt said.

Anger flashed in the hybrid's eyes and Caroline placed her body protectively in front of Matt, pushing him against the wall. She knew she wouldn't be a great protection for Matt if Klaus decided to go all murderous on them, she felt she owed him some protection after he just lied for her. She knew it was basically suicide for him to have said what he said, and she couldn't help but wonder why he said it in the first place.

"Careful busboy, don't play with fire, you do not stand a chance against me and I am in no mood to play nice. Tell me where Rebekah is now. She might have fancied you for some reason only she could come up with, but I can assure you, I would have no remorse whatsoever to rip your heart out right here and now."

Matt was about to reply back, but Caroline stomped on his foot to shut him up.

"No need to show us how many more victims you can do in a 24 hours time period, Klaus. I'll take you to Rebekah, just leave Matt alone" Caroline said, trying to put as much loathing in her voice as she could.

Klaus stared back at her and smiled.

"Lead the way, love".


	4. Chapter 4 - The Lockwood cellar

**A/N: Hi all! Thank you all so much for the comments so far. It really encourages me to continue on with this story. I decided to post this chapter quickly so there might be lots of typos scattered here and there. Hope you'll like it anyways.**

* * *

Before she left the bar with Klaus, Caroline turned around to face Matt. She couldn't risk telling him what she so desperately wanted her friend to do, in case Klaus would be listening, so she looked in Matt's eyes lifting her eyebrows and then stared at his cellphone that had been resting on the nearest pool table, before Klaus had interrupted them. She then looked back into his blue eyes and hoped he'd understand she wanted him to use it to contact Damon. She wasn't sure if she'd need the eldest Salvatore's help at the Lockwood cellar but she didn't want to take a chance. "Please call Damon", she thought hard, as if she could engrave her thoughts into his head. She thought she could distinguish understanding on his face before she turned around and made her way out the bar holding her head high. She passed by Klaus, who was leaning on the bar counter, waiting for her. She knew he wouldn't attack Matt, now that she had told him to leave the human boy alone.

Klaus still didn't lose the opportunity to give the busboy a very intimidating look before following the blond vampire out the main entrance door. He walked silently behind her, watching her long blond curls bounced up and down her back. He was hypnotized by her and soon couldn't resist the urge to talk to her, he needed to hear her beautiful voice again.

"Well sweetheart, I can't tell you how happy I am you're ready to come on a road trip with me" he said.

They had reached Caroline's car and she got on the driver's seat not bothering looking at him when she spoke.

"Can we not talk to each other, please" she said, after starting the engine. She seemed solicitous.

"Oh come on", he said, sitting next to her on the passenger seat. "Aren't you excited to go on a little adventure?" He asked trying to cheer her up.

"The only reason I suggested to take you to the place Rebekah's coffin is hidden, was just to get you out of the bar so you wouldn't rip Matt's heart out."

"Here's an interesting idea", he said. "Turn around Caroline; I'd love to show that boy a few pointers on how to respect his elders."

She finally took her eyes off the road and looked at him with a deadly stare.

"Don't you dare hurt any more of my friends" she said, pointing at him, hatred sounding in her voice.

He smiled at her, she was so endearing when she put on her threatening look. She turned her head back to face the road, presumably ready to ignore him once again. He had to brace himself for what he was about to ask her.

"Tell me Caroline", he started. She sighed heavily, why couldn't he just understand she wanted him to keep quiet. "How did you come to know the location of Rebekah's body?"

She almost hit the breaks in shock. She wondered how much he had heard from her conversation with Matt? She never acknowledged she knew Tyler's plan when she met with Klaus that morning. Instead she had pointed an accusing finger at him. Back at _The Grill_ she had hoped he would have thought she didn't know anything about it. She had felt they had built some sort of friendship over the past few days and she had to admit she didn't want to lose it.

She knew he was the town's designated villain, and yet, even after last night's events, she had a hard time picturing him as nothing more than the bad guy. After all, he had showed her his human side and best of all, she had laughed with him at the pageant. She had felt like she hadn't had such a good time and laughed with someone in a very long time. She had to admit to herself that the guy had sneakily gotten under her skin and she just couldn't shake him off.

She glanced nervously at him from the corner of her eyes, and saw he was now the one looking out the window. Looking at his profile, she could see that his jaw was clenched and his eyes had lost their cheerful look. He was deadly serious and she found she just couldn't bring herself to lie to him anymore.

"What is it you really want to know Klaus?" she asked. They were getting closer to their destination and she was getting nervous with every minute that passed.

He scoffed at her and kept his gaze away, out on the road.

"Did you know about Tyler's plan?" he finally said.

She kept her eyes on the road when she answered.

"Yes I did" she said. She could feel the tension build up in the car and couldn't take it much longer. "Listen I'm not proud of it, okay? Tyler told me about his plan to kill you. He was going to sacrifice himself in order to rid the town of the menace you are. So, I couldn't let him do that, and I came with the idea to put you into Rebekah's body instead."

"So you couldn't let your ex-boyfriend sacrifice himself, and yet you had no remorse whatsoever to let me be killed", he said his voice low and she knew he felt betrayed. "I take it you didn't even lift a finger to stop them from killing me?"

"Well it's not like you show everyone around you what a good guy you can be. I'm the only one who has that chance. The rest of the town sees you as a murderous evil guy! It's your fault people hate you, Klaus. What good would my word have been against all of them?"

"Yet you didn't feel the need to warn me".

"What good would that have done", she almost yelled back at him. They had just arrived the farthest the road could take them by car. They would now need to walk across the forest, all the way to the Lockwood cellar just a few minutes from where they were.

Klaus got out of the car, and Caroline did the same.

"I'm not done explaining myself" she said, before she was pushed back against the car. Klaus was looking at her, frustration plastered all over his features. She was reminded of their encounter that morning and could feel yet again the excitement building up in her body.

"I'm done listening. You've done your part by bringing me here, you can leave now" he said gravely.

She was taken aback by his aggressiveness. "You're not going in there alone", she told him. "Stefan's in there and he might be in trouble. Plus, I have to finish what I started with april and compel her".

He stared at her. It was clear she was challenging him to deny her the right to help her friend.

"Fine, but I don't want you in my way when I get things settled with Rebekah in there, am I being clear" She nodded. His body was so close to hers she had to fight the urge to reach out her hand and move one of his rebellious sandy curls away from his forehead. She never looked down and held his gaze until he was the one looking away.

He then stepped a few feet away and motioned for her to follow him in silence to the edge of the forest.

* * *

They entered the cellar cautiously. Klaus was not afraid of Rebekah one bit, yet he knew she would be pissed off at him for daggering her once again. Plus, he remembered using Stefan to lure her into giving them the location of the Hunter's sword. He couldn't help but think that he did all this to her even if he loved his baby sister dearly. Maybe Caroline could still develop feelings for him, even if she had planned his death with her friends multiple times. He pushed that thought away as fast as it came to him; he needed to stay focused on his task. Rebekah needed to be neutralized before she turned the whole town upside down to satisfy her taste for revenge.

Caroline was right behind him and he could feel her warm breath on the back of his neck. She had taken her heels off so she wouldn't make a noisy entrance The first thing he noticed was the faint moan coming from somewhere in front of them. Stefan, no doubt. The cellar was pitch-black, but he could still make out the room in front of him, all thanks to his heightened hybrid senses. He had no problem spotting Stefan's crunched figure on the ground a few feet away from their location. Although he knew she couldn't see as clearly as he could, he sensed Caroline's body tensing up behind him. She had definitely recognized Stefan's voice. He grabbed Caroline's hand, before she decided to rush in there, and help the poor soul. He turned to look at her and saw she was about to give him hell for stopping her. He hastily put a finger on her lips silencing her instantly. He then brought his forefinger to his ear, tapping twice on it then away from his head, reminding her that Rebekah, if she was still there, could easily hear them. His dear sister was undoubtedly planning an attack on them and although she was weaker than him, she could still easily kill Caroline. Even after all the younger vampire had put him through, he just could not bear the thought of losing her.

Without letting her small hand off his strong grip, he pulled her closer to him and made his way silently closer to where Stefan was lying on the floor. He could smell the younger Salvatore's blood mixing up with his hybrid Kimberley's. The young hybrid girl had been the last one of his little army to die at his hand the night before and he felt a small pang of guilt spread its way up his chest. He instantly shut down his emotions pushing the unwelcomed feelings away. He smelled the air again trying to detect his sister's familiar scent and after deciding the coast was clear, he released Caroline's hand and nodded in agreement for her to go help her friend.

Caroline ran up to Stefan's body and was grateful when she realized Klaus was standing guard behind them. She thought it was funny how she felt safe when she was around him. She scanned Stefan's body to find the source of her friend's bleeding. It was so dark in the cellar even her vampiric eyesight didn't help her much. She was grateful Stefan was still alive even if he was in a very bad shape. She finally found the Silver Stake, the one that Klaus had used on his Original bitch of a sister, plunged into Stefan's stomach. She grabbed it and pulled as hard as she could on it.

As soon as the stake left his body, Stefan snapped out of his lethargy and opened his eyes letting out another big groan of pain. He looked at his surroundings before resting his gaze on Klaus and then on Caroline.

"Caroline, he said, April's dead". He was looking past her to her right where she supposed the new Miss Mystic Fall's body was. She could sense he was sorry to announce the death of another person she knew amongst the town's inhabitants. "She was dead when I arrived", he continued. "Rebekah had already killed her but I think she regretted doing it. I guess she couldn't resist the urge to rip someone's throat out when she woke up."

He looked at Klaus before adding "She's pretty unhappy with us at the moment, as you can see" he gestured to his bleeding wound that was just starting to heal.

"I can see that, mate". Caroline thought she saw concern in Klaus' eyes and that frightened her more than she could admit.

"We need to get you out of here" she said, helping Stefan stand up. She then turned around to where April's body was. She looked at the cute brunettes' glassy expression. She leaned in front of the girl's body and closed April's eyes with her fingers, and stood back up, sighting heavily. She looked up at Klaus' face and read something like curiosity cross his face. She just looked back at him, daring him to make one stupid comment about her need to show humanity in the situation. Instead, he just kept on staring and finally just genuinely smiled at her. Then, without a warning, his expression changed to horror, and before he could warn her, a strong hand grabbed her throat from behind. She then felt another arm creep out from behind her, and a hand holding an improvised wooden stake made its way right in front of her dead heart. She was too stunned to react or even just to be scared, but as soon as she saw Klaus' expression darken she slowly started to panic.

"Rebekah", he said. "There you are dear sister. Were you playing hide and seek with us, love?"

"Shut up Nick" she spat back. "I'm sick and tired of you using me as your personal voodoo doll. You can't just stab me as many times as you wish and get away with it that easily. How would you like it if I decided to stake dear Caroline here." She pressed the stake closer to Caroline, scratching the younger vampire's skin, and blood slowly started to trickle down her chest. Klaus immediately saw red and had to stop himself from flashing to Rebekah, rip Caroline off her grip, and then wrench her sister's heart out. He knew the younger Original was fast and she could easily kill Caroline before he even had time to move a muscle. He knew he had to control his temper, for Caroline's sake.

"Rebekah, don't do this", Stefan pleaded.

"Don't bother Stefan. You were in on the plan to play with my emotions in order to cure your precious Elena. I despise the both of you".

Caroline was scared to even move a muscle, as she was sure that if she tried, it wouldn't take Rebekah more than half a second to kill her. Still she was tired of being the one who got tortured or used as bait. She no longer was a weak human girl. It was time for her to act like the strong vampire she now was.

Klaus saw Caroline's features change and her new resolution cross her face. He couldn't help but yell out:

"Caroline, don't!"


	5. Chapter 5 - Part of the Plan

"Caroline, don't!"

Caroline felt Rebekah's body tense up and took advantage of the Original's surprise to plunge the Silver stake she was still holding into Rebekah's thigh. Rebekah yelled out in pain and released just enough pressure on Caroline, so the younger vampire could run out of her strong grip.

Klaus met her half way and grabbed her shoulders tightly, his eyes burning. "That was foolish" he said, before spinning her around and trusting her into Stefan's arms. He then turned around to face his sister, his features darkening. All fangs out, he jumped on Rebekah and pushed her against the nearest wall. In a swift move, he grabbed the stake from her thigh and plunged it into her neck. Blood started gushing out of the wound.

"Nick!" she cried out. Tears were pouring on her cheeks and she reached her hand up to grab his, to pull the weapon out of her neck.

"Don't. Ever. Go after Carole again, sister. Or I will personally kill you by ripping your pretty little head off. Am I being clear?" His words came up barely in a whisper but the threat was easy to detect.

"Nick", she choked. The girl was a mess, drenched in tears and blood.

Klaus took the stake off her neck, but only to replace it with a strong grip on her throat, choking her.

"I said, am I being clear?" he growled. Klaus was undoubtedly scary right now, and Caroline kind of felt bad for Rebekah. But only for a second.

"Yes", Rebekah cried out. The rest of her answer came out in a whisper. " I'm sorry Nick".

"Sure, don't apologize to me, bitch" Caroline thought.

Klaus finally let go of his sister's throat and step back before turning around to reach Caroline. He needed to inspect her perfect body and make sure she was okay. But before he could take a step towards her, he heard a whooshing sound next to his right ear. He turned around to see Rebekah, a hand-carved stake with hunters' marks on it, plunged into her abdomen.

Caroline, Stefan and Klaus all turned around to see Damon and Jeremy near the entrance door, the latter was holding his Hunter Shotgun, a new stake placed on it, ready to be shot. Rebekah yelled out of frustration and took the stake out of her stomach throwing it aside. Her features changed, darkening, showing her true vampire nature.

"What the hell was that for?" she yelled. She was restraining herself from going to both of them, and knock their heads against the wall, but she was still afraid of her brother's reaction if she did such a thing.

"Sorry we're late", Damon started. "Aspiring Van Helsing here, wanted to tag along, and since I'm babysitting him for the moment, I thought I might as well bring him to a place full of vampires. Thought this would help with his training and all", he said smiling wickedly at Rebekah.

Klaus flashed at hybrid speed and pushed both of the newcomers against the cave wall, hands grabbing their throats. His eyes dark, veins and fangs out.

"How dare you use your vampire hunter weapons against us, boy" he said looking at Jeremy menacingly. He then turned to look at Damon and fought the urge to kill him right here and there.

"You're welcome" Damon choked, still smiling.

"Nobody hurts my baby sister but me, understood?" Klaus said merely an inch from Damon's face.

"Even if it was to save your sorry ass? … She was clearly going to … jump on you the moment you turned your back on her" Damon said between suffocating sounds.

"Is that true" Klaus asked.

"No" Damon responded without hesitation.

Klaus threw Damon across the room, where the older Salvatore hit the wall and slid to the ground not moving. The Original hybrid then turned his attention back on Jeremy.

"Klaus!" Caroline yelled out. "I'm the reason they're here. Please, leave Jeremy alone".

Although Klaus heard her, he did not let go of the young hunter. Jeremy's face was dangerously starting to turn purple with every second that passed.

"Don't waste your breath, Caroline", Rebekah said, smirking. Her wounds had all healed and she was wiping the blood off her neck with her black cardigan. "Whatever power you think you have over my brother, you don't".

Caroline did not give her the satisfaction of a fight, and instead approached Klaus slowly, putting a hand on his shoulder. She was glad to feel him relax at her touch.

"Please", she pleaded. "Let him go, they meant no harm, they were here to save us and thought they still needed to help when they arrived". She meant her friends wanted to save Stefan and her, but she did not feel the need to go into such details at the moment.

"They were not needed", he said, clearly unhappy. "How did they even know we were he… oh wait, let me guess..." he said turning his head to look at Caroline, "Matt".

Caroline just kept staring at him, eyebrows lifted in a "I'm waiting" position. The hybrid finally dropped his grip on Jeremy, who then fell to the ground gasping for air.

Klaus turned around to face Caroline and, as if in trance, he reached out his hand to move the collar of her blouse aside. He still needed to be sure that the scratch Rebekah had caused her, was gone. The cut had healed long ago and only left a small trace of dried blood behind. This was the only proof she had been hurt. Still he found he could not take his eyes off her fair skin.

The touch of his fingers on her bare skin sent electric shocks all over her body. Nevertheless, she invoked all her mental strength to slap his hand away, trying to hide how the contact had shaken her inside.

Klaus gave her an innocent smile, and then went to join Rebekah a few feet away from her.

"I'm gonna kill them" the blond Original growled, looking at Damon and then at Jeremy.

"Get in line, honey", Damon said picking himself off the floor.

"Not today darling sister", Klaus said ignoring Damon." I am taking you home, we have lots to talk about."

And then, just like that, he had grabbed her arm and sped off with his sister, out of the cave.

Caroline turned back to face Damon who had reached Jeremy and was helping him up. She noticed he was giving her a mocking glare.

"What?!" she shot out at him.

"Well nothing… or maybe just the fact you almost made out with the enemy in your ex-boyfriend's family cellar. It was just weird that's all."

Caroline felt herself blush. She sped up to Damon and punched him right in his cocky face.

"I did not just make out with Klaus! What the hell?" she yelled back.

"Sure you didn't." Damon said laughing. "How do we say it… Ah yeah, payback's a bitch Caroline, remember that."

"Oh so this was Damon's way to take his revenge on her, for the way she acted with him that morning?" she thought.

"Go to hell", she spat back.

"Oh Darling, trust me I've been there, I've done that. The place needs a little touch of feng shui if you ask me, but anyway… Buffy the vampire slayer (he looked at Jeremy) and I have an appointment with busboy Matt right now. Training to become the best vampire hunter and all, you know" he said sarcastically. "So we'll be at the Gilbert Lake house, if you need us to… you know… stake another Original for you"… He looked at Caroline and then added "or maybe _you_'d prefer we don't".

He moved away before she could punch him again.

"See you later Blondie", he gave her another cocky smile and then turned to Stefan, "Brother" nodding at him.

Stefan just looked at him blankly and then looked away, his mouth in a straight line.

"Right…" Damon said looking away. "You ready?" he asked Jeremy.

Caroline just noticed Elena's brother hadn't said a word since he came in. His muscles were tensed and his heart was beating fast. His jaw was clenched and his hands were balled into fists. She realized it must still be really overwhelming for him to be in the same room as a vampire, let alone three of them, and not invoke his hunter skills to rip their heads off. He made his way to where Rebekah had thrown his stake, picked it up and walked back to Damon, muttering his first words since he entered the cave. "I'm good, we can go". They both left, Damon giving one last wary look as his younger brother.

* * *

Caroline left the cellar with Stefan. Before getting into her car, she called Matt to thank him for sending Damon and Jeremy to their rescue. On their way to the Boarding House, Stefan kept quiet and only nodded at Caroline's attempt at innocent chitchat.

Once they arrived at the Salvatores', Stefan got out of the car, opened the front door, leaving it ajar for Caroline, and walked straight to the living room. He took out a bottle of scotch from his mini-bar, poured a generous amount of the brown liquid in a glass and drowned it in one big mouthful. He got himself another glass before sitting down on one of the couches, apparently lost in his thoughts.

"Stefan, are you okay?" Caroline asked.

"I'm fine, the wound has healed already. I'll just need to go hunt something after this drink", he said.

"That's not what I meant", Caroline said. She sat down on the couch opposite of Stefan's, looking him right in the eyes. "I left you with terrible news last night, and I feel awful about it. I don't regret the fact that you now know the truth, but I regret the fact that I was the one to tell you. It was not my place to…"

"I don't want to talk about it Caroline", he said not looking at her. "But, if it helps, I'm not angry at you."

"But Stefan…"

"Caroline, please, just drop it", he said finally looking up at her.

Caroline dropped her gaze to the floor, as she couldn't bear to see the grief and sorrow in Stefan's green eyes.

"I'm sorry", she whispered. A few minutes of silence later, she lifted her head and saw he was now staring at the fireplace.

"Stefan, can I ask you a question."

He snapped his head up and looked right into her eyes.

"What is it?" he looked concerned and she almost changed her mind. How could she even think to bother him with her personal drama? Still she felt she would go crazy if she kept her mouth shut any longer.

"I need to tell someone about this… secret I'm keeping, and I can't tell Elena 'cause she's probably still pissed at me about … well you know… and I can't tell Bonnie, 'cause she's with Elena, so… with her vampire heightened hearing and all, she could hear our conservation over the phone… and well I can't tell Tyler"… she trailed on.

"I get it", he said smiling at her, "I'm the only one you can tell. Go on, I'm listening."

"Yes, but I'm not coming to you only for these reasons, Stefan" she said. "It's also because, you might be the only one that will not judge me." After a long pause she added: "I need to talk to you about Klaus."

* * *

Klaus got through the front door of his house, Rebekah in his shadow. He brought her to the living room and turned around to face her angelic face. _His_ face, however was deadly serious.

"What was that all about Rebekah?" he almost yelled at her.

"What ever do you mean, dear brother?" she said. She walked pass him and sat down on one of the leather sofas. She crossed her long legs and smiled at him, proud of herself. "Don't you think I could make a living as a professional actress? Hell, I think I should go to Hollywood right this instant and show the world what a real star looks like."

"You could compel your way to the top, dear sister, for all I care. But if you do go for an audition, this time, stick to the scenario" he said, clearly unhappy with her.

"It all went fine, Nick", she said exasperated. "You're overreacting…"

"The plan was to make it appear as if you would hurt her, Rebekah" he interrupted. "No blood was to be shed."

"Yeah, apart from mine it seems", she spat back.

"Don't be a brat, sister. You're an Original. You would have survived any bloody attack they would have thrown at you. Caroline on the other hand would not have had such luck; she could have died if you had put too much pressure on that damn stake."

The moment he had heard Matt and Caroline, at The Mystic Grill, mention his sister's inevitable umpteenth resurrection; Klaus had called Rebekah's cellphone from his concealed seat, at far end of the bar. He apologized for killing her yet again and had made it seem as if he was repentant and he finally offered her a deal. If she was to help him, she would then gain some freedom. She could decide whether or not she would stay with him. He also promised he would never dagger her again.

Of course, Klaus never intended on keeping Rebekah alive, whatever he had promised her. He just needed to tell her what he knew she wanted to hear so she would agree to his plan. He knew he needed her help now that his hybrid slaves were gone. And then later, once she had filled her purpose, he could dagger her again and hide her, permanently this time, before she decided to turn her back on him, yet again. He would no longer tolerate another deception from her.

Although she had agreed to go along with his plan, he still did not trust her completely. So he had gone into the cave with Caroline, convinced Rebekah was going to jump on them at any moment and kill Caroline right in front of him. The moment he saw Caroline bleed from the scratch Rebekah had inflicted her, he was sure he had been right to distrust his little sister. He had been this close to attacking her, feeling guilty for endangering Caroline's life in his foolish attempt at reconciliation with Rebekah, before Caroline decided to defend herself. He knew she was a strong willed young women, but he had still been quite impressed with the amount of guts she had shown in defending herself against Rebekah.

"You were lucky I was in on the whole plan at all, after what you did to me" she said, snapping him out of his thoughts. "I really am sick and tired of you daggering me and ruining really expensive clothes in the process" she finished, giving her ruined ensemble a pitiful look.

"And I told you, you had left me no choice in all these situations when I had to… put you to sleep."

"Well that's certainly one way of seeing it. So now what? Do you think Caroline will befriend you now that you played the hero at the cellar? Seriously Nick, what do you see in that girl."

"I don't see anything", Klaus said. He did not want her to know how much he really cared for Caroline. The younger vampire was becoming his greatest weakness and he needed to keep his feelings hidden for both of their lives' sake. "I already told you that by befriending Caroline, I will much likely know what she and her friends are up to, and then I'll be this much closer to finding the cure and use it on the doppelganger."

"Ah yes, so dear Elena can help you create a new army of hybrids" Rebekah said, picking at her manicured nails, she was frustrated to see that dried blood had stuck underneath them.

"Precisely", Klaus said. "I still need to fix your mistake, Rebekah".

He went to pour them both a glass of red wine, before coming back in the room and handing his sister her glass.

"I'm bored, Nick, what do we do next?"

"Now, it's time for Plan B."

* * *

Rebekah went into her brother's study, took out her cellphone from her back pocket and dialled a phone number stored in her phone's memory. The line was picked after the third ring.

"Rebekah? asked a man's voice, obviously shocked to hear from her.

A smile came up to her face when she answered.

"Hello Tyler."

* * *

**A/N: Okay so I based the end of this chapter with what we saw in the 4x10 episode preview. What do you guys think? Did you see it coming?**


	6. Chapter 6 - Caroline's Apology Journey

**A/N: Hi you guys. I've updated my story summary hoping it would bring more readers to it. **

**I would also like to thank the people below for their lovely comments:**

**Aaaammber, Daisywoo, Ktclaire 99, AgathaN, saule-teja, luxanakakashi, CinderNella, Mystery Girl3, laurasicas **_**and**_** melyna1864.**

**Thank you all, your comments and reviews are what keeps me going.**

**Natasha**

* * *

"So that's it" Caroline finished, slightly flustered. She was feeling nervous, as Stefan hadn't interrupted her through her entire speech. She was used to pouring her heart out with her two best friends, Bonnie and Elena, and they would always know when to stop her for the need of juicy details, or to know how she felt in such and such situation. Now, facing Stefan's silence, she felt overly exposed.

She had told him everything from her meeting with Klaus in her bedroom on her birthday/funeral night, to her date with him at the pageant, without failing to mention his multiple attempts to charm her in between those encounters. She had told him about the emotions she felt particularly since the Miss Mystic Falls pageant and how she now felt like a traitor to her friends by fraternizing with the enemy.

"So you're feeling bad because…"

"Because I've started some sort of relationship with Klaus and I… I don't want it to end" she said. "Does that make me one of the bad guys now? Everybody thinks he's such a monster… and he is most of the time but…"

Stefan looked at her and smiled.

"Caroline, being a vampire alone is considered a monstrosity. Imagine adding a werewolf temper on top of that. Klaus being a hybrid, parts vampire and werewolf, we're lucky he hasn't burnt down the town already, killing every living soul in it. Like I told you last night, I strongly believe we are no better than him. I think he's just a lonely guy with bad issues he needs to resolve. As for us, we did some bad stuff ourselves, we were just blessed with good friends and … family." He dropped his gaze to the floor, undoubtedly thinking about his brother.

"Yes that's what you said last night, before his Big-Ass-Sword Massacre, and not to mention what he did to Tyler's mother. Now I don't know if we were just kidding ourselves in thinking he wasn't that bad."

"Then I believe it is your choice to decide if you are willing to forgive him for what he's done so far… and know if you want to help him out of this life."

Stefan got up from his seat and helped himself with another generous portion of scotch, before joining Caroline on her couch.

"It's alright for you to have feelings for him, Caroline", he said, taking her hands in his.

Caroline knew that, would it have been her listening to a friend's confession, she would have judged without caring if she hurt her feelings or not. Having a compassionate reaction from Stefan brought tears to her eyes. She vowed to herself that she would never judge another being if they confided in her… unless she really couldn't help it.

"If Elena had stopped caring for me when I got back in Ripper mode", he continued, "I would probably have lost myself to the dark side. But in the end, it's the love and care of the people surrounding us that saves us from being engulfed in the darkness. Just keep in mind that Klaus is over a thousand years old and throughout his life he has never cared for someone other than his siblings and himself. He never had people keeping him away from the dark. It could take him a long time adjusting to the light, Caroline. He never really learned to trust someone or to be worthy of someone's trust. The only thing he knows is betrayal and deception, first from his mother, then his siblings, and finally from his hybrids and you." He said smiling sadly at her.

"I know" she said, tears swelling in her blue eyes. "I feel bad for betraying his trust, and…" she sighted heavily "I feel like the worst monster of the two, right now. Plus, my friends hate me, and so does my boyfriend… or ex I should say. Klaus is mad at me for plotting behind his back again…"

"If you feel so bad about what the others might think of you, may I suggest you try to fix it?"

"How could I do that?" she asked puzzled.

"Try apologizing to your friends for a start" he said smiling encouragingly.

Caroline smiled back and thanked Stefan for his support; she left his house, promising him she would fix everything.

* * *

Bonnie was about to leave the Gilbert house when she got a phone call. She looked at the caller ID and saw Caroline's name appear. She was surprised to hear from Caroline since, the last time they spoke, Caroline seemed angry and had hung up on her.

"Hi Caroline" she answered.

"Bonnie, Hi!" Caroline replied. She sounded a little too excited to talk to her. Something was wrong.

"What's up?" Bonnie asked.

"Are you with Elena right now?" Caroline asked.

"I stayed with her last night… and was actually going to leave for my house right now, why?"

"Can you wait for a little longer? I kind of have to speak to Elena. And let's just say I'd really like it if you could be around when I meet up with her."

Caroline sounded nervous and so Bonnie agreed to wait for her before she got back home. Before she went back inside Elena's house she dialed her dad's cellphone number.

"Hey Bonnie", he said, sounding far from the receiver." I'm on the road baby, so I can't really speak right now". She clearly was on speaker phone. Her dad and technology… apparently he hadn't learned how to use the Bluetooth system she had bought him a few months ago.

"It's okay dad", she answered." Listen, I just wanted to let you know I might not be home when you arrive this afternoon. I've got something to take care of at Elena's house before I get back there."

"No problem my baby bunny", she hated when he called her like that, couldn't he see she no longer was five years old. Sometimes he seemed to so desperately held on to that image of her, refusing to see the young adult she now was. She thought it had something to do with the fact she was now embracing her true nature as a witch.

"I might have been away from town for a long time, but I still know my way around the kitchen to cook myself a respectful dinner."

She smiled, she was glad her father was coming back to town. She missed him. She didn't talk about him much but, he was the only family she had left, and although he didn't really care about witchcraft he still loved her, and she was glad he did.

"Okay, see you later dad", she said before hanging up.

She turned around and knocked on Elena's front door, before stepping inside her best friend's house.

"Hey" Elena said, surprised to see her again. She was sitting at the kitchen table holding a cup of coffee a few inches away from her lips.

"Yeah, well, Caroline called me, she wishes to see us."

Elena tensed at Caroline's name. She wasn't very happy with her other best friend right now. The blond vampire had been clear on her feelings towards Elena's relationship with Damon, and if she didn't want to see Elena with Damon, then Elena didn't want to see Caroline. She just couldn't stand being criticized over what her heart felt.

Right on cue, Caroline arrived at Elena's house and rang the doorbell. Bonnie went to meet her and invited her in. As soon as Caroline stepped into the kitchen, tension filled the air and silence fell upon the three girls.

"Hi" Caroline finally said smiling shyly at Elena.

"Hi" Elena said, not smiling back at her.

Bonnie sat next to Elena, looking nervously between her two friends. With the tension in the room building up, she hoped she wouldn't have to use her newly recovered powers to break up a fight.

Okay, here we go, thought Caroline.

"I came here to apologize to you" she said looking at Elena. "First, I'm sorry for saying all the horrible things I said about Damon, and for being judgmental".

Elena scoffed, not bothering answering.

"It's no secret I'm not a fan of the guy" Caroline continued. "I don't like him and I don't think he's what you need, Stefan is your soul ma…"

"Stop it Caroline!" Elena interjected. "I'll always love Stefan, but now my feelings for Damon have outgrown what I feel for Stefan, I can't help it Caroline. I know you thought I felt the way I did because of the sire bond, but you see, it's not the case. Damon set me "free" yesterday, and I still love him as much."

"But what about Stefan?" Caroline asked. She felt bad for the guy, he deserved to be happy.

"Caroline, I need you to be a friend and support me in my decision, even if you don't agree with my choice. But, don't worry okay, I'll tell Stefan about me and Damon eventually… but, we broke up, so… "

"Yeah about that…" Caroline started. "I kinda spilled off the information that you and Damon were now together, together… that you… consumed your love for one another".

Elena sped up to her at vampire speed and gave her an angry look. Bonnie tensed up ready to step in.

"You what?!" Elena cried out.

"I'm sorry! And that's the other reason why I wanted to apologize… We were talking about family and trust, and I just couldn't let him believe he could trust Damon so blindly when it came to you. Damon hadn't freed you from the sire bond like he had told Stefan and he was lying to his brother ..."

"So in order to obtain Stefan's trust, you went out and betrayed your word to me!"

"It's not like that!" Caroline said. "I didn't plan on doing it and I didn't really say anything, he …. kinda guessed".

"Oh that makes it okay then…"

"Why did this need to be a secret to keep from him in the first place? Think about it Elena, when you asked me to keep my mouth shut you were still sired to Damon and he was probably the one who said you should keep your relationship secret. Now think, of you own free will, would you have agreed on lying to Stefan about something like this?"

Elena looked at her and did not answer back.

"See that's what I thought. The Elena I know would have set things straight with Stefan a long time ago".

"Still it wasn't right; you should have kept this to yourself, as a friend to me."

"As a friend to you yes, but not as a friend to Damon's marionette"

Bonnie stepped between the two, arms stretched. "Guys, please…"

"I…" Elena started before being interrupted by her cellphone. She looked down on the caller ID displayed on her screen, and then turned her back on her friends. "I've gotta get this" she said.

She went a few feet away whispering.

"Caroline…" Bonnie started.

"I know, it wasn't cool for me to do what I did, but Bonnie… I could not bear the thought that Elena was some kind of puppet Damon could use at will."

"You know he loves her" Bonnie said. "He's not Stefan, but still, he loves her and makes her happy right now."

"But Bonnie, did you ever think about …" before she could finish, Elena interrupted them both.

"How dare you come here and tell me how an horrible person Damon is, when you're now friends with Klaus of all people!"

"Wait, what?" Bonnie asked.

Caroline looked blindly at Elena not sure how her friend knew about her relationship with the Original hybrid.

"That was Damon on the phone", Elena answered her silent question. "When he heard your voice in the background he told me to be careful because you might be on Klaus' side now."

"I'm not on Klaus' side…" Caroline started.

"Damon said he saw you two today, and you seemed to have bonded or whatever. Klaus is the bad guy here Caroline, if you're going to go around telling crap about Damon, maybe you should analyze your own acquaintances with the monster Klaus Mikaelson is".

"I… Klaus is no more a monster than Damon is, so your logic should apply to your own boyfriend as well then." Caroline replied.

"How can you say that, Damon is nothing like Klaus."

"How so?" Caroline asked.

"Klaus tried to kill me, and used me to create hybrids…" Elena started.

"Damon tried to kill me too, and he used me because he was bored and because he wanted to get closer to you!" Caroline replied back. She would not let Elena bring Klaus down without a fight this time. If Klaus was going down for his actions, so would Damon.

"Klaus killed Jenna and tried to kill Jeremy and Tyl…"

"Damon killed Lexi. He killed Alaric multiple times. Do I also need to remind you that he killed Jeremy once, without knowing about the Gilbert ring he was wearing?" Carolina snapped back. "Damon was responsible for Vicky and Bonnie's mother becoming vampires. He killed, tortured and used lots of people out of boredom. You and I, we've killed people, Elena. Why are we considered the good guys here".

"We didn't have any choice; we did it to save our lives and the ones that we love".

"I killed a guy the night I first became a vampire… he was an innocent victim. The other people we killed, the ones we call the bad guys, they were our foes as per our beliefs, and they probably saw us as such. Did we think about their families and friends before we snapped their necks or drowned them from their blood… no. You see Klaus did all he did to save his and his family's life. He did some bad stuff out of selfishness, but so did we at some point. It doesn't excuse what he did to you or your family, but, and I know it's going to sound weird coming from me … we can't be too harsh on him."

Elena looked at her at a loss for words.

"Caroline, what's wrong with you? Klaus is a monster. He's incapable of love, you said that yourself" she finally said.

"And I believed it when I said it, now I'm not that sure…" Caroline said.

"I can't believe this…" Elena said.

"Caroline, befriending Klaus is dangerous"… Bonnie started. "We don't know at what extent we can trust him. What if he uses your friendship… or relationship… to get to us, to get to Elena."

Caroline looked at her friends, tears swelling in her eyes.

"I'll be careful" she said. "Anyway, you're right Elena. Your relationship with Damon is not of my business… I guess we can agree on the same terms about my relationship with Klaus".

Caroline turned around and left her best friend's house as tears started pouring down her cheeks.

* * *

One last checkpoint for my Apology Journey, Caroline thought as she parked in front of the Mikaelson's for the second time that day. She longed for her bed and a good night's sleep, but she needed to get this done.

She went for the front door and knocked. She couldn't help but feel a bit nervous about seeing Klaus again. When he had touched her in the cellar, she had to keep herself from launching herself on him and kiss him passionately. She was daydreaming about that possibility when the front door opened and Klaus stepped in the doorway.

"Caroline! What can I do for you?"

She was a bit flustered about the fact that he didn't seem that happy to see her, and then she remembered they had had an argument in her car before they'd arrived at the cellar… She was here to apologize to him about lying and using him, why was she hoping for a welcome party, anyway.

"Can I come in?" she asked.

"Of course, where are my manners…" Klaus said before gesturing for her to get in.

She stepped inside his house and she couldn't help but think that this was the first time, since he had made her visit his study, that the two of them would be alone in his house… unless Rebekah was prowling somewhere around the house of course.

She went for the living room and turned around to see if he was following her. She saw him leaning against the wall opposite her, grinning.

"So Caroline, sweetheart, why don't you tell me the reason for your late night visit".

She hadn't realized what time it was and nearly jumped when she saw the clock on the top of an antique looking wooden table.

"Oh, I hadn't realized the time, I can come back tomorrow. I don't want to bother you…" She started making her way for the exit, but he grabbed her arm gently but firmly. She looked down at the floor, scared he could see the emotions that, with a simple touch from his fingers, had started boiling up inside her.

"Don't go" Klaus said. Something in his voice made her look up in his eyes. The blue of his iris was so intense she found she could not look away.

They kept gazing at each other and Caroline was the first to regain her balance. What was she here for again? Ah yes. She braced herself for the blow.

"I came here to apologize for dishonoring your trust so many times" she said. "I'm sorry for being part of the plots and plans to kill you. I haven't been a good friend to you and I'm sorry".

Klaus looked at her with a stunned expression. "You already apologized for that Caroline, why bring it up again?"

"Because I did not have the chance to show you how sincere I am about this apology", she started. If her heart was still beating he could probably hear it fluttering crazily right now. "I realized how much I cared about you when I thought you were gonna … sort of die."

She dropped her gaze to the floor as the piercing look he was giving her was too overwhelming for her.

Klaus looked at Caroline's blushing face and didn't know what to think. Was this another ruse? Was she another distraction before her friends came running in his house forks and torches at the ready. Yet, the sincerity he sensed in her voice made him want to believe her so bad.

Caroline looked back up and held an unnecessary breath.

"So that's it, I came here to apologize and ask for your forgiveness. I promise this will never happen again".

Klaus kept quiet and kept staring at her. Then, with his hand, he gently moved a lock of her golden hair away from her eyes, where it had fell, and placed it behind her ear. He lowered his hand a little, not letting go of the lock, twirling it's end around his fingers. He looked completely absorbed in his contemplation of her blond curls, and she closed her eyes unable to help the feelings that resurfaced.

"I don't know why" he said, his voice a mere whisper "but I believe you".

She realized she hadn't paid that much attention to his British accent before, but in that moment she had never heard anything sexier in her life. When she saw Klaus close the space between them, she knew he intended to kiss her, and although her head was screaming for her to get away, something was gluing her on the spot. She found she was actually longing for his lips to meet hers.

When Klaus saw that Caroline was not repulsed by his closeness, he seized his chance and was just about to savor the taste of her beautiful pink lips, when he heard the front door open.

As soon as Caroline heard the noise she flinched away, her face turning bright red.

"Nick, I'm done with my shopping and I brought you a little surpri…" Rebekah stopped in her tracks as soon as she saw Klaus and Caroline so close to one another.

"Rebekah, I'm not your personal carrier…" A masculine voice came from outside.

Oh no, not him, Caroline thought.

Kol stepped inside the house with shopping bags in each hand.

"Are we interrupting something", he said stopping next to his sister and staring at his brother and Caroline. His signature cocky smile spread across his face when he saw her face all red.

"I think I'm gonna go" Caroline muttered. She glanced quickly at Klaus and saw fire still burning in his eyes as he looked back at her. His stare alone made her knees go weak and, it took a great effort to make her legs move again to get passed the two Original vampires. She averted their eyes, afraid they would see how troubled she felt, and she left the house. On her way to her car she couldn't help but think that, that same morning, she had come here ready for war, and she was now leaving the Mikaelson's with a hope for a new beginning.

As soon as Kol closed the door behind Caroline, he turned to face his brother, smiling brightly.

"Well brother, it's nice to see you again! Rebekah filled me in on your plan; I can see you're not wasting anytime with the blond bombshell".

Klaus had to refrain himself from snapping Kol's neck right there, and he had to remind himself he needed his brother as much as Rebekah for what was to come in the next few days.

"I'm happy that Rebekah didn't waste any second finding you" Klaus said giving a grateful smile to his sister who smiled back at him.

"Tomorrow brother, you and I are going to have some fun" Klaus continued, grabbing Kol's shoulder.

"Can't wait" Kol replied, excited at the thought he'd finally get some real action going.

Rebekah left her two brothers to their reunion and went up to her room, grabbing her shopping bags Kol had left in the lobby, on her way up the stairs. Before reaching her door, she took a look at her cell phone; there were still no new messages.

* * *

**A/N: Flip to the next chapter for a sneak peek of next week's publication. **


	7. Chapter 7 - Emotional Rollercoaster Ride

**Oh you guys are amazing! Hope you like getting sneak peeks 'cause I plan on providing one for each new chapter as they come.**

**I know it took me a long time to update, but I just couldn't get this chapter to be what I wanted it to be…**

**So I've reviewed bits and pieces of the beginning of chapter 7 and completed it (still not 100% happy with it). Plus, you'll find a sneak peek of Chapter 8, once you're done with this one.**

* * *

The next morning Klaus drove to the Gilbert Lake House to check on the young Hunter's training. If there was one thing he and the Salvatores agreed upon, it was Elena's prompt return to human form. They needed to use the cure on the doppelganger sooner rather than later, as he was running out of patience. When he got out of his car, he saw the eldest Salvatore brother watching Jeremy and Matt wrestling, from a safe distance, few feet away.

"Seriously, how thick can you get…" Klaus thought.

In two fast steps he was next to Damon, watching the two young men battling. Jeremy with his newly developed hunter skills was giving Matt a hell of a workout. The latter didn't even have a chance to approach the young Gilbert without being thrown on his back, a strong arm pushed against his throat. Once Matt surrendered they'd resume the training, but the end result never changed.

"Klaus…" Damon said not even looking up at him. "What a pleasant surprise. What do you want, you're a distraction."

Jeremy stopped wrestling watching the two vampires, his Hunter's instinct kicking in. Matt tried to take advantage of his inattention by jumping on his back, but Jeremy easily grabbed him mid-way and slammed him on the ground.

"Jer… be careful with the guy, he's not as tough as a vampire. I don't personally care for him, but I know you'd feel bad if you actually broke his back." Damon interjected.

Klaus turned his attention on Damon and placed his body in front of the younger vampire so he would listen to what he had to say. "You are here to grow Jeremy's mark. How is him wrestling with a mere mortal boy going to help him grow stronger and faster? "

"Yeah well I can't fight him myself, with the possibility of me dying from a stake in the heart and all. The guy doesn't have a soft spot in his heart for me as it is, don't know why as I am so lovable. But anyway, he wishes to use real weapons if he's going against a real vampire".

Klaus glared back at him "That's a pity. Fortunately for you, I have a solution to your little problem." As he spoke, a car pulled up in the driveway next to his. "Ah, right on time" he said, turning to welcome the newcomer. Kol got out of his car looking excited.

Klaus turned around to face Jeremy and Matt who had stopped training at the sound of the car's arrival.

"Jeremy, here's your new training partner" he said. "I'm sure you'll find it more of a challenge to go up against him" Klaus smiled, pleased with himself. "As an Original, Kol can't be killed by a mere wooden stake" he said giving Damon a snooty look.

Kol sped right between Matt and Jeremy and tried to punch the hunter in the face, but Jeremy was able to avert the blow just in time.

"You're lucky I haven't put that much effort in this punch boy, or your pretty little face would be in pieces right now."

"Go to hell, dick" Jeremy replied back.

Kol gave him an arrogant smile and turned to look at Matt "Ah Matt Donovan, I remember you… You can stay and watch if you want. You could be my personal human blood bag if I ever get exhausted or whatever".

Matt gave him an angry look which only made Kol laugh out loud.

Klaus smiled at his brother. He didn't appreciate Matt's presence here and although he was now at peace with his sister, he would gladly kill the blond boy, even if it pissed Rebekah off. And he knew Kol felt the same way. Their sister would get over it eventually.

Jeremy looked to Damon and gestured for him to follow him inside the Lake House.

"What the hell's going on, man?" he asked when they were inside.

"It seems Klaus has come up with a plan of his own to help out with your training", Damon said. He looked through the window as Klaus and Kol started teaming up against Matt, approaching menacingly on the young man. Poor guy Damon laughed. "Isn't it touching Klaus cares that much about your future?"

"Don't laugh, dick. Training with Kol? Really? This is suicide! I'm not ready. He'll kill me without thinking twice about it. We can't trust the Originals, Damon, you know that."

"I know, but what other options do we have?" he asked exasperated. "You need to train against real vampires, and training with an actual immortal vampire is not a bad idea." He hated to admit Klaus was right, but wrestling with Matt would not bring Jeremy to his fullest Hunter potential.

"We'll find another way, but for now, tell Klaus we're not gonna do this his way. He can't control us like he used to his hybrids."

"Yeah I wouldn't mention that in front of him if I were you" Damon said, sneering. He liked the kid, he had guts. He put his hands on the young man's shoulders. "Listen we'll try this up, and if it doesn't work I'll take care of Kol and Klaus. How's that? I promised your sister I'd take care of your training and would keep you safe. And I plan on keeping my word to her. Anyway, Klaus wants the location of the cure, and the only way to find it is your Hunter's mark growing to its full extent. You're too valuable for him to let Kol kill you."

Jeremy simply nodded; clearly unhappy he'd still have to face Klaus' younger brother. If there was one of the Original siblings that was unpredictable and dangerous, it was Kol.

"So are we good now", Klaus asked as the two men stepped out of the house.

"We'll give this a shot", Damon said. "But if your brother here misbehaves at all, I'll hold you responsible for his actions."

Klaus scoffed and gave Kol a nod before heading for his car.

"Now let's have some fun" Kol said, positioning himself to attack. Jeremy stepped back hurriedly in a defensive stance.

* * *

Caroline got up that morning after a sleepless night, her head full of concerns and questions.

She had arrived late last night; considering her mom had already been fast asleep. After a long and excruciatingly hot shower, she had sat on her bed reminiscing about what had happened that day.

She started having mixed feelings towards her wish to befriend Klaus, and had tossed and turned all night trying to figure out what was going on with her.

Was she crazy? Was it safe for her to trust the Hybrid? Was he gonna use her to get to her friends? Was she being foolish to have such strong beliefs in her power over him? Would he change his sadistic nature in exchange for her friendship? Was he even beyond any possible change?

And then she'd think: But I could save him from himself. I could guarantee my friend's safety against the Mikaelsons.

Then she'd go back to her incessant questioning, and one particular question came creeping out: Was she betraying her friends by befriending the "Enemy"?

Was she turning her back on Tyler? Was she betraying her feelings for him? All day she had been this close to let her primitive physical instincts take over her. She had almost KISSED Klaus!

Her brain kept stirring all these thoughts even when she tried to clear her head to get some much needed sleep. Yet, the next hours had been spent thinking about all the emotions she had felt when she had been with Klaus during the day. The way her body reacted to his closeness… the way her dead heart had almost skipped a beat, when she thought he'd kiss her.

She had a hard time understanding where these emotions were coming from. Was it because she had been vulnerable emotionally after her breakup with Tyler? Yet why would that have influenced her behaviour with Klaus. She no longer was that insecure self-conscious Caroline who lived and fed on boys' attentions. The one that would have batted her eyelashes suggestively and puffed her chest out at any male stranger that would have given her an hungry look.

But then how could she explain, that just a few hours after her breakup with her boyfriend, she had almost jumped right into Klaus' arms ready to kiss him. Was her emotional state reason enough for her to have been so unguarded? She used to keep the Original Hybrid at arms lengths, most of the time, and yet she'd let him get into her personal space all day yesterday.

Was she kidding herself in thinking she had changed since her transition into vampirism?

Was she going back to the shallow and insecure Caroline?

No. No, no, no. She knew she had outgrown that part of her personality after becoming a vampire. And anyway she had to admit it to herself once and for all; Klaus had gotten under her skin, way before the Winter Wonderland events. And as much as she despised his actions that night, she found couldn't hate the guy… and that pissed her off.

Caroline had once told Klaus she was too smart to be seduced by him. And yet, she had felt inexplicably attracted to him yesterday. She had almost given in on his advances.

So all through the night she had been plainly angry with herself. And she had been furious against Klaus. She couldn't believe how she could let go of her barriers around him like she did. And she blamed his charms and his multiple seduction attempts, for her misconduct. After all, she wasn't immune against his gorgeousness… and sexiness… oh and let's not forget that irresistible accent.

Okay, so she was confused.

Now that she was away from Klaus, and her head was somewhat clear, she tried analyzing her emotions as objectively as she could.

Yes, she liked him. He was nice to her and never seemed to judge her by her flaws. He always wanted to learn more about her; her hopes and dreams. He wanted to show her the wonders of the world. He showed a humanized part of him to her that she'd never seen him display before. This was all very romantic… All that being said, she was willing to give the guy a chance, but at friendship only. Right? Nothing more.

And Caroline was no fool. If she'd succumbed to his charms and he'd have what he had wanted from her all along, then she'd mean nothing to him. Right now she was a challenge to him and that's what reeled him in. If she'd become his, then she'd be nothing more than a new shinny toy he'd get bored with and would throw away. And as much as she hated to admit it to herself, she would not accept to be used by him… she knew it was ironic as she probably deserved a taste of her own medicine, after all she put him through.

But anyway, that kind of relationship with the Hybrid was out of the question. She'd be his friend. For his sake, and for her friends'. She could be an ally to him and help him become a better person and turn him to the light. She could help her friends as well in the process, turning him into somewhat of a good guy, he wouldn't go after them anymore and would let them be.

Yesterday, she had gone through a heated argument with her two best friends to defend the Big Bad Wolf. She would be willing to sacrifice her relationship with her friends now, if it meant they'd all live happily ever after in the end. One day, she thought, they'd understand it was a smart move. That they would all benefit from her new relationship with Klaus. And then Tyler could come back to Mystic Falls… come back to her.

And there she was again, going back to Tyler… Would he still love her when he'd come back? Even if she had befriended his mother's murderer?

_"Tyler should have never gone against me. He knew what would happen to him if he crossed the line…" _Klaus had said when she had confronted him about his implications in Carol's death. And as much as she hated to admit it, he was right. They all knew what to expect from the Original Hybrid, if they tried to double cross him.

In a way, Tyler had endangered all of them by going against Klaus. His plans had multiple flaws in it and although Caroline had warned him, he had decided to trust Haylee instead of his girlfriend's word. And even after Haylee's betrayal, he had preferred to protect the werewolf bitch rather than keeping Caroline safe.

Now, along with her feelings for Klaus, she had started questioning her relationship with Tyler. Was she ready to say it was over? She still loved him, she was sure of it. But she had to admit they could never get back together, not after all that happened in the past months.

Needless to say that, with all this going through her mind, she hadn't slept all night.

As she was reminiscing all of this, sitting on her bed, she heard a soft knock on her bedroom door and for a second she wondered if it was Klaus standing outside her room. She brushed that foolish idea away and heard her mother's steady heartbeat on the other side of the door.

Liz cracked the door open and passed her head through it, smiling at her daughter. She probably noticed Caroline's tired features but kept her remarks to herself. Caroline and her mother had never been big on having girl-talks anyway.

"Are you going to school today, honey?" she asked. "You're going to be late if you don't hurry up."

Caroline noted her mother also looked exhausted and she suspected it had something to do with Carol Lockwood's death.

"I'll be down soon, mom. Thanks."

Her mother smiled weakly and went down the stairs to make fresh coffee.

Caroline got up and went through her morning routine at vampire speed. No pampering this morning as she really was going to be late.

"At least I won't need to worry about running into Klaus today" she said. She did not plan on making daily visits to him, even if she had promised him her loyalty as a friend.

She remembered how that promise had led them to a very intimate moment, which she vividly pushed away, but not without great effort. She stomped her foot down in frustration, angry at how her head just kept on going back to all the heated moments the two of them had shared in the past twenty-four hours. "Get over it!" she yelled to herself.

She couldn't help but wonder why she had left herself get so close to him. Was it because she was just recently single and was in desperate need of affection after being abandoned?

She was afraid of letting Klaus into her heart right now. First because she was just recently single. Second because she wasn't completely over her relationship with Tyler. And third, because he was Klaus, and despite her efforts to see him in a different light, and the fact that she had defended him tooth and nails yesterday, she knew she still couldn't trust him completely. She'd need to be smart and careful, like she promised her friends she would.

She walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. It had only taken her five minutes to get prepared and she was actually proud of herself. She poured some coffee into her favorite cup and allowed herself to relax before driving to school, as she still had twenty minutes before the start of her first class, which she shared with Elena. She was nervous to face her friend after yesterday's blow. She had to try to explain herself to Elena, because she couldn't blame her best friend to feel betrayed.

She was lost in her thoughts when she suddenly saw movement out of the corner of her eyes. She twisted her head quickly to find Klaus sitting at her dining table, sipping his own cup of coffee, and looking at her, a soft smile plastered on his face. She was taken aback by the sweetness she read in the look he gave her, and she just stared back at him, puzzled. Well, so much for a Klaus-free day.

"What are you doing here?" she shouted more than asked. Yep… she was in shock.

"Well good morning to you too, Caroline." He said amused by her outburst. "Your mother invited me here for a little chitchat. I assume it has something to do with the Mayor's situation."

His eyes were glaring at her.

"I didn't say anything to her if that's what you're insinuating".

"I'm not insinuating anything, love" he said.

"Where is my mom anyway?" she asked, suddenly scared he might have cut the sheriff into pieces and hidden her somewhere around the house to shut her up, and then cursed herself for having such thoughts.

"Oh, she had to go to the station to pick up some documents" he said, innocently.

"And she wished to meet you here, alone?" Caroline was getting even more confused by the minute. How could her mother be so reckless? Unless Liz didn't suspect Klaus to be Carol's murderer? Then why did her mother invite Klaus over for? She hadn't actually discussed Mrs Lockwood's death with her mom, because she knew that the Sheriff's office was in total mayhem with the newly formed town council and the upcoming election of a new Mayor. She didn't want to bother her.

Liz had been interviewed by the local news station and she had described Carol's murder to the media as being a terrible accident. Was that really what they all thought at the council, or did they just cover up the story so it wouldn't alarm the viewers? Caroline did not know.

"Are you scared for your mother's well-being Caroline?" Klaus asked faking a shocked expression. "I promise on our friendship's sake, I won't hurt her".

Was he mocking her? Caroline scoffed and turned her back on him, putting her still half-full cup in the kitchen sink. She needed to get out of here, but could she really leave her mom alone with Klaus? What if she asked the wrong questions and triggered his murderous alter-ego? Just as that thought crossed her mind, she felt a draft of air behind her, and knew he was in her back. He leaned closer to her ear, put his hands on her shoulders and whispered:

"Didn't we have unfinished business to discuss, love?"

She pushed him and her impure thoughts away. "What are you talking about?" she cried out, turning to face him, her eyebrows furrowed. "What more do you want from me? I apologized already."

"Well, I guess I better get used to your crapy morning attitude" he said laughing as she gave him an angry look.

Yet he couldn't understand her shifting moods this morning. They had been so close to kissing last night and when he arrived at her place this morning, after leaving the Gilbert Lake House, he had been looking forward to some alone time with her. And now she was back to hating him for some reason.

"So why do I deserve the cold shoulder this morning?" he asked.

"I… it's not your fault" she finally said. Great, now she felt bad for being rude to him. It was her fault he had been misguided on her intentions towards him. This was all because of her actions the night before. "I'm sorry" she growled.

She just felt like she kept on apologizing to him… and she hated it.

"That's fine" he said smiling. He took a step closer to her, and she raised her hands up defensively, stopping him in his track.

"Don't", she said, looking down. "Don't get closer to me, please" she almost pleaded as he took her hands in his, and brought them to his chest.

"What's wrong, love?" he asked genuinely concerned. Was she afraid of him? What for? Surely she knew he'd never be able to hurt her.

"I just…" she started, and then she just seemed to snap out of her trance. She looked up at him, all traces of fear evaporated. "I need to get to school" she said, forcing a smile on her face and retrieving her hands back from him.

She passed by a surprised Klaus, grabbed her bag and before she left her house she turned back to him "Have a good day Klaus, please be nice to my mom".

Before he could reply back to her, she was in her car, starting the engine.

"Good" she thought. "I was a courteous friend and nothing wrong happened".

A nagging voice resonated in her head, whispering "yeah but it was sooooo close".

* * *

Caroline arrived at school half an hour late for her course. She debated the need to even go in class and decided on going to the school library until her next lesson started.

She passed the glass doors and went into the history section, where she knew she'd be alone. As she sat down at the farthest table from the library entrance, she laid her head on the wooden surface and dozed off, exhausted from her last two sleepless nights.

_She was in the forest running, grabbing someone's hand. _

_They were running away from something, she could feel the fear creep up her dead heart. _

_The situation felt so much like a déjà vu… and then it dawned on her. _

_This was when she had been rescued by Tyler… or Klaus possessing Tyler's body… when she had been kidnapped by the former town's council, a few weeks ago. But this time, as she looked in front of her, she didn't see Tyler's dark hair. Instead she saw Klaus' sandy curls. _

_As she drove him into the nearest tree, it was his handsome face replacing Tyler's features and his full lips hungry for hers that she kissed, as she launched herself forward. She kissed him like there was no tomorrow. _

"_Caroline" he growled passionately parting from her lips for a mere second, his voice sending shivers down her spine. That moment, where their lips were separated, had been excruciating for her. It had made her feel like someone had cut of her access to her oxygen supply. She needed his lips on hers, his tongue caressing hers… _

_He twirled her around and pinned her into a nearby tree, cupping her face between his strong hands, and kissed her hard. She grabbed his shirt and lifted it up, above his head, before throwing it aside. _

_This time when he pulled back, unlike when it had been him in Tyler's body, Klaus did not try to put a stop to their intimacy._

"_Careful, love, no need to rush things, time is on our side", he said, caressing her face tenderly with his thumbs._

"_We're fugitives on the run" she heard herself say. "All signs point to hot hybrid-vampire sex". She grabbed his head back to her so their lips would meet again. Now he was the one ridding her of her shirt, and throwing it a few feet away, where it landed on top of his. _

_Klaus seized a handful of her blond curls tilting her head, and started running his lips down her neck all the way to her collarbone. She could feel him smile when a soft moan escaped her lips. With his other hand he pulled her up, so she'd intertwine her legs around his hips. The young vampire looked down in his stormy blue eyes, and kissed him back passionately, running her fingers in his hair. _

"_I need another set of arms", she decided. She felt the need to touch every inch of his perfectly shaped body._

_Klaus laid her down on the forest floor, his body on top of hers, and started working on unbuttoning his jeans, when he suddenly stopped and lifted himself up looking at her with a quizzical look._

"Caroline?" _he asked in a distorted female voice._

"_Weird" Caroline thought, but she wanted… no needed, his body close to her again. As she raised herself on her elbows to try and bring him back closer, he said:_ "Caroline, wake up".

Then she felt herself be shaken by an unseen hand. She jerked her head up from the table. She had fallen asleep in the library… "great". And had been dreaming about Klaus… "Even better" she grunted internally.

She looked up behind her shoulder to see who had woken her up, and saw Elena's concerned brown eyes looking at her. Bonnie was right behind her.

"Euh, Hi" Caroline said. She felt her face turn pink.

"Hi" Elena seemed to feel as much discomfort as she did.

Caroline stood up and gave her friend a huge hug hoping she wouldn't push her away.

"Caroline you're hurting me" Elena said laughing nervously. Caroline let go of her, tears glistening in her eyes, she was glad to see her friends and prayed they'd come to see her to say they still loved her and that they acknowledged her right to be friends with Klaus.

Klaus. Did she just have a torrid hot dream of him just now? Emotions came erupting up from her body and she blushed heavily as she saw her friends looking at her in an inquisitive way.

"You weren't in History" Bonnie said. "Shane asked if we knew where you were".

"Oh did you guys come here to bring me to class?" Caroline asked.

"No, class is over but Shane wanted to see the three of us before we went to English" Elena added.

As they made their way to Shane's office Caroline had an uneasy feeling creeping up inside her. Something was wrong. Wasn't Elena angry with her?

"Elena… are we good? You're not mad at me anymore?"

Elena stopped in her tracks and turned to face Caroline.

"Care, I… I thought about what you said yesterday, and... I don't like Klaus… and I don't trust him. But I trust your judgment. I think that you were right when you said we weren't that different from him. I just… I just want you to be careful, and not forget what he's capable of… Okay?"

Caroline took her in yet another bone crushing hug.

"Thank you" she whispered. "I'll be careful".

Bonnie stood aside from them smiling. She was so happy to see their trio back on good terms.

They entered Shane's office and saw him bent over some ancient-looking parchment papers. He was obviously looking for something in these old records.

He lifted his head up and looked at them, a smile coming to his face the moment his eyes met Bonnie's.

"Hey girls" he said. "We might have a little situation at the Lake House. "

"What's wrong? Did something happen to Jeremy?" Elena interrupted.

"Jeremy's fine. It is just that… I was about to go over there to replace Damon, in keeping an eye on your brother for the night, but then Damon called me, saying it wasn't a good idea. Klaus sent his brother Kol over there to train with Jeremy… and he thought it would be too dangerous for me to go over there".

Kol? No way! Was Klaus crazy? Sending his mental brother to fight against her friend.

Elena was giving her a "I told you look" and she felt stupid for ever trusting the Hybrid jerk.

"I'll go at the Lake House" Bonnie said. "I can take care of protecting Jeremy, plus Kol was probably not invited in the Lake House so, he won't be able to hurt us if we're inside."

Shane gave her a concern look. Was he jealous? Caroline wondered if the young professor had a soft spot for her friend.

"I'll go with you" Caroline said. "You can keep Jeremy company inside the lake house, and I'll keep an eye on Kol".

"Caroline, I know you want to trust Klaus, but Kol, he won't go easy on you like his older brother would" Elena intervened. "It will not be safe for you."

"Don't worry Elena" she said. "This is the only option we have".

"Damon could stay there, I'm sure he wouldn't mind" Elena insisted.

Caroline was glad to see her friend still cared for her safety.

"He'll need to feed Elena" she argued her friend. "Anyway, I owe him… so I'll take Shane's shift, no biggie."

She could see her friend was uncomfortable, so she gave Elena her most confident smile. "It's gonna be fine Elena".

"Then it's settled" Shane said, clearly unhappy about Bonnie's night plan. "I'll give Damon a call and let him know".

He dismissed them and the girls left his office, arms crossed.

"We taking your car or mine" Caroline asked Bonnie.

"We can take yours" she said.

"Okay. Let me just do a call and I'll be back in a second."

Caroline went a few feet away from her friends and called her mother's cellphone number. She was happy to hear her mom's voice, and she told her she wouldn't go home that night, and would be back the next day, after school. Once that call was done, she scrolled down her contact list to find Klaus' cellphone number.

"Hello, love" he answered.

As soon as she heard his voice she was brought back to her dream in the forest, and her knees suddenly felt like JELL-O.

She sat down on the nearest bench and pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to concentrate her thoughts away from those tempting images.

"Caroline?" Klaus' voice was now alarmed.

"How could you?" she answered harshly. "How could you send Kol to the Lake House!"

"Do I need to get all my decisions vetted by you now, love?"

"When it concerns my friends' safety, yes!" she cried out.

"Listen, sweetheart. Kol is there to help Jeremy grow his mark by becoming a stronger hunter. My brother will stay in line, you have my promise. You don't have to worry."

"I hope so, 'cause I'm planning on spending the night with him, tonight… _Love._" she said sarcastically, before hanging up on him.

* * *

Back at _The Grill,_ where he was having a drink, Klaus looked at his phone in disbelief. Caroline was spending the night with Kol? He engulfed the last remainings of his drink and slammed his glass, hard, on the counter, frustration spilling out every pore of his body.

* * *

**A/N: okay so I'm not completely happy with this chapter but anyway… hope you guys like it. **


	8. Chapter 8 - Mistrust

**A/N: Thank you all for your lovely comments and patience. I`ve been quite busy at work and at home. I hope you`ll enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

Caroline and Bonnie arrived at the Lake House before dawn. They had both went to their respective houses to pack a bag for the night. The plan was for Caroline to stay outside with Kol, and keep him away from the Lake House, and for Bonnie to stay with Jeremy, and get his mind off the whole vampire business.

As they pulled into the driveway, they witnessed Jeremy being pushed hard against a tree by Kol. The Original vampire had a sadistic smile on his face when he lifted the young hunter up by the throat, Jeremy's feet leaving the ground. Damon was sitting on the nearby picnic table, arms crossed and frowning. Still he did not lift a finger to help Elena's brother.

"Are these beautiful creatures my new groupies?" Kol said, flashing a smile in the girls' direction. Caroline rolled her eyes at him and saw Bonnie lift both her hands in front of her in the boys' direction.

The Original vampire automatically dropped his grip on Jeremy, and started yelling in pain, grabbing his head, and falling on the ground. Damon soon followed his lead, screaming in agony.

Jeremy got up and went to meet the girls, looking relieved to see Bonnie. He was limping and had bruises covering his body, from head to toes.

Bonnie lowered her right hand, the one inflicting pain to Damon, and the eldest of the Salvatores gasped at her.

"Why are you witchy migraining me?!"

"You were letting him hurt Jeremy" Bonnie answered, fire burning in her eyes. Jeremy put a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down.

"Yeah! He's learning to take and give blows!" Damon told her, as if she was stupid. "If I'd stop him from getting hurt, then there wouldn't be any need for training, now would there. He needs to learn how to defend himself!"

"It's okay Bonnie" Jeremy said, smiling at her.

She looked up in his eyes, and then dropped her other hand to her side, glaring at Kol with animosity.

He pulled himself up and looked at her, and started advancing on her menacingly, but Caroline stepped in front of her friend to stop him in his track. He met her eyes and then grinned.

"Oh, Caroline, right?" He had lost his threatening look and had his cheeky smile back on. He looked Caroline up and down longingly and continued "Too bad you're my brother's gal, 'cause I'm sure I'd have a lot of fun with you, sugar."

"In your dreams, asshole" she replied back, disgusted.

"Oh I love a fierce woman" he exclaimed, smiling even more brightly. "They're just way more fun in bed" he added, looking knowingly at Damon as if he was in on the joke. "I'll be patient, honey. You'll see, eventually you'll fall for my irresistible charms, and drop Klaus without thinking twice about it."

Caroline scoffed at him. "First of all, I'm not Klaus' girlfriend. We're just friends, you besotted little freak. And secondly, I'm here to keep you in line tonight, so don't even think about playing the big old Original badass card."

"Oh so you're gonna keep me in line now?" he asked visibly amused. "You wouldn't even be able to stop me if I decided on playing the Original badass card, babe".

Caroline was about to retort but was stopped by a familiar voice coming from behind them.

"No, but I would".

They all turned to see Klaus standing next to Caroline's car. He had undoubtedly ran all the way to their location, as his car was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh great, this gets better and better by the minute" Damon grumbled.

Klaus passed by Caroline without so much as glancing her way, and stopped in front of Kol.

"They will not need you tonight, brother. Let them get some rest. You'll be back soon enough, tomorrow morning."

Kol looked like he was about to argue but after looking up at his older brother's face, he simply nodded. The two Originals passed by Caroline and her friends, Kol giving them a "I'll see you tomorrow" look. And they both ran at vampire speed, through the forest.

"Well it seems you won't be needed Blondie" Damon said. "Your knight in shining armour came to take Kol-the-dragon away".

Caroline gave him a hard look and just said. "If it's okay with Jeremy, I'll stay for the night. We never know… Kol could come back without Klaus knowing."

* * *

Turns out, Kol did not show up that night or the nights after. He'd arrive as the sun got up and left before sunset. Klaus never came back. Caroline and Stefan exchanged turns in keeping a look out outside the Lake House. Elena sometimes tagged along (coinciding with every time Caroline was on watch) and stayed inside with Bonnie and her brother, but no other vampire spent the night inside, as they weren`t completely sure if Jeremy could resist the urges to kill them…. even in his sleep.

When Caroline returned to school a week after, she was welcomed with posters plastered everywhere announcing the upcoming senior prom, and calls for nominations of Prom King and Queen. She had completely forgotten about the event and almost fell on the floor from the crushing sensation she felt in her chest. Wasn't she part of the Prom organization group? Sure she had missed the last month's meetings because of personal reasons, but how could she have forgotten such an important phase of her high school life? Prom. Prom without Tyler at her side. Prom, without the both of them accepting their rightfully owned crowns and sceptres. She had gone through her day like a robot, not noticing her friends' attempt at discussion on the subject. Bonnie, Elena and Matt had tried cheering her up, the two girls suggesting they could go as girl dates. Caroline had nodded absent mindedly, knowing full well Elena would have much preferred to be accompanied by Damon, and Bonnie by Jeremy… or Shane, it was hard to know what was going on with her witch friend's love life. Matt had said he'd already been asked by some cheerleader but he could cancel his engagement if she wanted. Caroline refused flatly. Matt deserved to have a real date at such an important part of his teenage life, and not some miserable friend who'd probably be moping over his shoulder all night. As for Stefan, Caroline knew he would not go and would probably be drinking himself to sleep.

After a few days of reminiscing, she had decided on simply not going. Yes, Caroline Forbes was going to ditch her senior prom night. When she announced her decision to her friends, they reacted quite violently, Elena even blurting out "Well if you absolutely want to have a date to prom, why don't you ask Klaus?"

Caroline had been taken aback and asked herself why she hadn't thought about it before. Okay, he hadn't returned her calls from the last few days and he had seemed to be avoiding her. She had heard from Elena that he'd been visiting Jeremy and Damon when Caroline was not at the Lake House. Although she was too proud to go running after him, she just couldn't get the idea of inviting him out of her head. After all, Caroline was not going to go unaccompanied to her senior prom, and Klaus had proven in past events he could be of good company when he didn't act like a complete jerk or a serial killer. So two weeks after her last encounter with the Original Hybrid, Caroline decided on taking her future in her own hands and ask Klaus to be her Prom date.

When she arrived at the Mikaelsons' mansion she braced herself for what was going to happen. She didn't doubt one second Klaus would accept her invitation, but she nonetheless felt nervous when she knocked on the front door and patiently waited for someone to answer. A few minutes later Rebekah came to the door and welcomed her with a sneer, before leading her to Klaus' study. The Hybrid was comfortably seated in a leather chair, a sketchbook on his lap, busy drawing something. He didn't even glance up when she entered the room and Rebekah left them alone.

She cleared her throat.

"Hey" she started. "You haven't returned my calls or messages. What's wrong?"

He looked up quickly and then back at his sketchbook before answering.

"Sorry Caroline, but I've been quite busy".

"Doing what? Sketching? Seriously, you couldn't take two minutes of your precious time to return my calls?"

His mouth was in a straight line and he kept his gaze on his parchment paper when he answered.

"What do you want, Caroline?"

She stood there in the middle of the spacious room, unsure of what she should do next. He was being such a D-bag to her at the moment, she was debating if she should just leave, or ask him what she had planned on asking him in the first place. She decided on the latter option.

"Well I wanted to ask you out on a date, but judging by the looks of it, you're not very interested."

He scoffed and smirked sarcastically.

"Sure you were. Planning another murder attempt on me, no doubt. Have your friends set you up for this again?"

"Stop it! I told you I wouldn't go along with that anymore. You said you trusted and believed me!"

He moved so fast she didn't even see him coming. He got up from his seat and was right in her face the next second, anger disfiguring his face.

"Yes, well this has all changed now."

"Why?" she stood her ground not showing him how much he was intimidating her.

He answered her question with another question.

"When were you gonna tell me about you and my brother?"

"What? Which brother? What are you talking about?"

He looked at her meaningfully.

"Don't play the dumb card with me Caroline, it doesn't suit you."

"I'm not playing anything. I just don't know what you are referring to."

She was truly bewildered by Klaus' implications.

"I'm referring to all the nights you've been spending with Kol over the past two weeks."

She looked at him quizzically.

"Spent with him? What, you mean the 30 seconds between the moment he was in my field of view and the one he was gone? You call that spending time with him?"

"Don't mock me Caroline." He almost growled. "He's told me everything about how he finally got through to you, the way I was never able to."

"What the hell?" Caroline was confused as to why Kol would say such nonsense. Probably to torment his brother, she thought. Why couldn't Klaus see that?

"I would personally drive a stake through my heart, if I was ever gonna think of Kol in that kind of way" she said truthfully. "Ugh. Why would you believe such a lie?"

Klaus took a step back and looked at her with a stony expression.

"How can I be sure YOU are the one saying the truth? You've been lying to me constantly since we've met. Playing with my… interest in you, to my disadvantage. How do I know your big apology number the other day, was not another big snare attempt?

She looked at him sadly; hurt from his distrust towards her.

"I'm not lying to you. You can trust me" she said, tears swelling in her beautiful blue eyes.

He looked away unable to see the pain reflecting on her beautiful features. She was without a doubt an excellent actress.

"Well you'll understand if I prefer to rely on my family members, as they at least know and accept who I am" he replied as if he didn't hear her plea.

She walked straight to him and grasped his chin so he would look at her; their faces were so close she could smell his breath tinted with alcohol.

"You mean they fear you. I don't… most of the time. I enjoy you. I don't understand why you do things but …"

He stopped her in her tracks, pulling her hand down and moving away, back to his leather chair.

"Sorry but your plan to use me won't be working this time. I believe you know the way to the exit."

"Klaus, don't be ridiculous."

"Goodbye Caroline."

She had left the room and passed by Rebekah, who had probably been listening to their conversation, judging by her bitchy attitude when she escorted her to the front door. Caroline never thought this meeting would end the way it did, and she felt heartbroken by Klaus' rejection and mistrust. She knew exactly who she'd turn her frustration on, though. She wanted to tear Kol's eyes out right that instant, for making up such bullshit. What were his motives for doing this anyway?

* * *

She had gone to Bonnie's place that same evening, to pick her friend up before heading to the Lake House. She had kept quiet through the whole ride, and when they arrived at their destination and saw Kol, she had blurred to his side and punched him hard in his face.

He spit out some blood (good she had hurt him) before looking at her with a cocky smile.

"Well someone's feeling naughty. I'm all S&M honey, so, what do you say, your place or my place? I'm sure Klaus would be delighted to hear us have a go at it."

She tried to punch him again, but he grabbed her hard and twisted her arm in her back, seizing her by the throat in the process.

"Careful now, sweet Caroline. One doesn't have a chance to hit an Original twice in one's life. You wouldn't want to hurt yourself."

Caroline was so pissed at him she didn't even think about being scared.

"Leave her alone" Bonnie said stepping closer to them.

"Oh, mind your own business, witch." Kol said menacingly.

"I said let go…" Bonnie continued.

Caroline grabbed Kol's arm and bit him hard. He automatically released his grip on her, and she turned around to face him.

"Why did you lie to Klaus about us?"

"I did?" he asked with a shocked face, tilting his head to the side. "I thought you and I were an item darling" he said advancing on her.

"I'm sad that you can't acknowledge the chemistry between the two of us" he added.

"Stop it you freak!" she cried out. "Don't take your dreams for reality."

He smiled at her.

"Oh believe me sugar, my dreams are way more kinky than what I've told my big brother". He wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively.

"You disgust me, get out of my sight!" Caroline yelled.

In a second he was right in her face.

"Oh you give me orders now…" he said with a smirk that was gone the next moment. "You see, my brother might be all sickly sweet with you and put up with all your whims, but make no mistake, I'm not Klaus. You are a mere baby vampire that I could easily kill with a snap of my fingers. Remember that."

Caroline took a step back from him, slowly feeling the adrenaline leave her system.

"Nonetheless" he added "I am expected somewhere else."

And with that, he left the Lake House at vampire speed.

* * *

A few days later, Caroline was lying in her sleeping bag outside the Lake House, remembering her confrontation with Kol like it happened the night before, and it still sent shivers down her spine. She had stupidly thought she was safe around the other Originals because Klaus would never allow them to hurt her. Now, she wasn't sure it was still the case.

She was looking directly at the brightest star in the sky above her. She didn't recognize the different constellations up above, but thought she remembered one called the Greater Dog that had the most brilliant star attached to it. Sirius, the Dog Star, she remembered its name now.

She heard a sound and turned her head to find a deer watching her from a safe distance. She quickly noticed the bright spot dancing in front of her eyes and realized she must have been staring at Sirius for too long as it seemed to have imprinted itself on her retina.

Her mind wandered to Klaus and how much she missed him. Like the shining star above her, when Klaus was around her, her eyes would automatically be drawn to him, even when she did her best to avoid him. And now that he was away from her, all she could think of was him. He had incrusted himself in her soul and she just could not shake him off, no matter how hard she tried.

She had felt sure he would have jumped on the occasion to go on a second date with her, but instead, he had pushed her away as if he no longer cared for her. This was all Kol's fault.

But she told herself that at least, she wouldn't go unaccompanied to prom. A few days ago, the girls had learned that Damon and Jeremy were leaving town to go on a vampire hunting trip in the nearby towns. Since all three girls were left behind by the men they wished to have at their arms, they finally agreed on going as girl dates.

* * *

Klaus threw the balled-up piece of paper he had been drawing on, into the fireplace.

Another picture of Caroline. He could just not get her out of his mind. When she had come to him the week before, he realized how he hadn't given her beauty justice in his drawings over the past two weeks he had been away from her.

He had felt betrayed by her in a whole new different way when Kol had boasted about how Caroline was a remarkable kisser and how she couldn't get her hands off of him in their alone times.

"Well brother, you have her friendship as you wanted, and I have her salaciousness. All's good for the implementation of your genius plan." Kol had said smiling proudly.

Klaus had been so close to drive a dagger through Kol's heart that night, but he had kept his cool, remembering how he was the one who had told his siblings he didn't care for Caroline in a romantic way.

Still he was devastated to think Caroline would prefer Kol to him. Tyler, with his good small town boy attitude was an easy choice for the blond vampire. A very boring and safe choice, really.

But Kol…

When she had grabbed his chin and forced him to look her in the eyes, a mere inch separating their noses, he had felt an intense fire burning in the pit of his stomach and he had had to draw a great amount of power from the deepest corners of his being to get away from her.

He could just not trust her anymore. She had played him so many times he would not let her make a fool of him again. Kol and Rebekah were family; he knew they wouldn't try anything against him. As Caroline had mentioned, they feared him. And although fear was not a bulletproof reason for trusting them, he knew they wouldn't try anything stupid on him. Plus, they were the best companions and allies he could hope for in the moment, Kol being as cold hearted as he was (if not worse) and Rebekah, being the only one who stuck by his side even after what he had put her through over the past centuries.

He had had a nagging feeling for weeks now that something was being planned against him and now everything was pointing towards the Scooby gang and their favourite Trojan horse, Caroline Forbes. He would not play nice anymore. He would fight back. He needed to plan some attack and show them he would not be played for a fool again.

* * *

Prom night arrived and Caroline was sitting in front of her makeup vanity, Elena styling her hair and Bonnie working her magic on some makeup touch-ups. They had all gone on a road trip to Virginia Beach over the weekend, and had bought their gowns at Tiffany's.

Caroline's dress was a red strapless satin empire bodice dress, with a cutout at midriff accessorized by rhinestones, bugle beads and sequins. Her dress was in a trumpet shape and had a long sweep train. She had golden chandelier earrings and a large gold rhinestone encrusted bracelet on, and finished her outfit with golden stilettos. Elena was styling her hair into a side ponytail, with her long blond curls cascading down her right arm.

Bonnie's dress was a golden strapless sweetheart ball gown with a low torso bodice, chunky bead and rhinestone detailed bust, a full ball gown skirt with tiered metallic organza ruffles. She had golden jewellery and heels as well, and Caroline had pulled her dark brown hair into an elaborate updo.

Elena had a strapless navy coloured ball gown with a sweetheart neckline. Her fitted top was embellished in sequins that made it shine. A beaded belt defined her naturally fitted waistline, and the A-line skirt was overlaid with navy tulle fabric. Her brown hair was braided down her back and curls were coming out in the front framing her beautiful face. She completed her outfit with her mother's silver jewellery and shiny black pumps.

Now that she had her attire on, Caroline was feeling a bit of excitement for the night ahead and she had high hopes that the evening would bring her mind away from Klaus. She just could not get the Original out of her head. Their last encounter had left her sad and confused.

The girls had booked a limousine for the night, and when the chauffeur pulled in front of the Forbes' house and kept the door opened for them to get in, they squealed excitedly. Bonnie and Elena were jiggling and bouncing on their seats, thrilled that prom had finally arrived. Caroline smiled brightly at them, feeling the sorrow from the last few weeks still creeping up her throat. She pushed the feelings away and concentrated on the night ahead. She would have fun with her two best friends, and she would not think about Tyler, or Klaus, or Kol, or Rebekah…

"My dad's gonna be a chaperone at the dance…" Bonnie said, visibly unhappy.

Mr. Hopkins, Bonnie's father, had replaced Carol as the town's Mayor and Bonnie was not thrilled with the idea. She felt like he took the job to have a closer look on what was going on with the supernatural world that Mystic Falls was immersed in, and she was afraid that eventually he would stick his nose where he shouldn't.

"It's gonna be alright Bon, if you want him to freak out, you should ask Shane to dance with you tonight" Elena said laughing.

Over the past weeks, Elena's relationship with Damon had grown stronger and Caroline had to admit her friend looked happy and radiant. Although Caroline still preferred Stefan over Damon, she found she could no longer judge Elena about who she chose to be with. She knew her friend could not help having feelings for the eldest Salvatore, just as she could not herself help the ones she had for a certain Hybrid.

"Oh I'm sure he'd freak out even more if he knew Shane was not only teaching me History" Bonnie added smiling. "Magic has never been his favourite subject".

The two girls noticed Caroline's disinclination and looked at each other before nodding in agreement. Elena took Caroline's left hand and Bonnie took her other one, channelling some positive energy to push away her friend's sadness. Caroline looked at both of them smiling. What would she do without her best friends.

"This is it girls, after tonight and the graduation ceremony, we're off in adulthood" Caroline said, feeling a lump forming in her throat.

"And we're going to face this together." Bonnie added.

"Always" Elena said.

They hugged one another again and before tears came ruining their makeup, they started babbling about their dresses and what songs they expected to dance on later tonight.

* * *

The girls twirled on the dance floor, having a great time and enjoying themselves. Some guys from the football team had worked out the courage to ask them to dance and Caroline realized she was going to be alright.

The guy dancing with her, Rich(?), was a good dancer, but she couldn't help comparing him to Klaus. Like how he was shorter than the Original Hybrid, and how, although he was on the football team, his shoulders were less broad and muscular than Klaus'. She also did not enjoy his busy hands grabbing her hips in a way Klaus would have never dared to. She had to compel the freak to keep his hands to himself, and at some point she simply told him to get lost.

Caroline was going through the crowd of students trying to find Matt, as he hadn't showed up at their meeting point earlier, and she was curious to see who was the mysterious cheerleader he'd come to prom with.

As if on cue her cellphone started chirping, and when she looked at it, she saw she had received a text message from Matt.

_Care, need Ur help. My date's in the girl's washroom and says she needs help with her dress. Can U help?_

She smiled before typing back.

_Coming. _

She made her way across the gym and passed the first rows of lockers before spotting Matt, standing a few feet away from the girl's washroom door. He wasn't moving and seemed to be in a trance.

"Something's wrong" Caroline thought.

The moment after, she was pushed hard against the lockers, her hands pinned behind her back.

"Hello Caroline."

Her blood bowled up when she heard the voice close to her ear.

"Rebekah" Caroline growled.

* * *

**A/N: What did you guys think? Next chapter will be exciting and have lots of action. I hope to be able to submit it before the end of the week.**


	9. Chapter 9 - Treachery

"Rebekah" Caroline growled.

"We have unfinished business to settle, I believe" Rebekah said before driving a wooden pencil into Caroline's shoulder, making the young vampire yell out in pain.

"Consider this as payback for your little improvised attack in the cellar the other day" she whispered close to Caroline's ear.

The young vampire tried her best to hold back the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes. Blood had splattered on the wall in front of her, miraculously sparing her dress.

"You and I are going to have some fun tonight" the Original said before twisting both Caroline's wrists in agonizing angles, making her wail in pain.

Suddenly the fire alarm went out.

Caroline used her heightened vampire earing to find out what was going on in the other parts of the school, and she heard Bonnie tell her father to get everyone off the school ground as soon as possible. After a short argument, the Mayor communicated the information to the other Prom chaperones who directed the students to the gym's emergency exit.

"I guess your friends heard your distress call" Rebekah said with a sneer. "Good, I could use some entertainment."

Caroline shivered at the other blond's comment.

"Matt, honey, go in the car and wait for me." Rebekah called out.

Matt, turned his gaze on both of them, before leaving through a side door.

"Good" Rebekah said. "I like Matt, I wouldn't want him to get caught in the crossfire of tonight's events."

"You compelled him!" Caroline exclaimed. She realized Rebekah must have been the "cheerleader" who had invited Matt to Prom, and she must have compelled him to keep the information a secret from his friends, so they wouldn't know of the bitch's plan to ruin the night.

"Obviously" Rebekah said. "It's a shame he didn't chose my side of his own free will, but he'll see I am the right choice for him, in time. I'll be patient. Now, enough with this jibber-jabber, darling"

The Original vampire took out a syringe from her back pocket, before trusting it into Caroline's neck. The young vampire felt a stinging sensation before the vervain penetrated her body, filling her veins with the vampire poison. She was automatically affected by it, feeling her strengths leave her, and an excruciating feeling of thirst burning at her throat.

She could feel splinters from the pencil sticking out of her shoulder, scorching her flesh. Her blood, now tinted with vervain, was burning the skin around her wound. She needed to stay concentrated and push away her sufferings, as she could now hear her friends' worried voices approaching.

They turned the corner of the hallway, leading to the two vampires, started running towards them to Caroline's rescue, before Kol, coming from nowhere, blocked their way.

Stepping in front of Elena, he plunged his hand at super speed into her chest, tightening his grip around the young vampire's heart.

"Elena!" Caroline and Bonnie both cried out.

Elena's eyes were wide opened in shock, her arms spread on each side of her body. She could not move a muscle.

"Make one witchy move Bonnie, and I'll rip her heart out" Kol said.

"What do you want? Why are you doing this?" Bonnie asked, trying to keep her powers from bursting out of her every pore.

Caroline could see her witch friend struggling to remain calm, as they both knew a loss of control on her powers would result in Elena's death.

Kol was not helping the matter, and his sadistic smile proved he knew fully well the effects his next uttered words would have on the young witch.

"What we want" he said winking at his sister "is to have some fun".

Rebekah laughed before seizing the tip of the pencil in Caroline's shoulder, easily snapping it in two with her fingers, and using the second half to pierce the delicate skin of her neck. The sudden attack drew a heartbreaking scream from Caroline.

Combined with the vervain in her systems, the pain was too much to bear and she felt her knees gave in, before she fell on the ground. Rebekah still maintained a tight grip on her wrists to keep her upright. Tears now ran down freely on Caroline's cheeks, making the Original blond chuckle with delight.

"Stop it!" Bonnie yelled out. "Stop hurting them."

Prom posters started flying and twirling around the group, lockers doors were flapping behind Bonnie's back, and Caroline knew her friend was starting to lose her internal battle.

"Bonnie! Calm down" Caroline warned her.

She saw her friend's shoulders relax a bit and hoped it would be enough to prevent the Originals from acting on their previous threat.

Kol smiled at Bonnie viciously, "I will stop hurting Elena here, if you promise to leave the school with her, without trying anything foolish. You do not follow this simple rule, and I will rip Caroline's beautiful head off and feed her body to the wolves". He sneered as if he was in on some joke only he knew about.

"What do you want with Caroline?"

The young blond vampire was asking herself the same question, but she knew the answer did not matter. Elena's life was in jeopardy and she would not hesitate to give her life for her friend's safety.

"That's for us to know and for you to eventually find out" Kol answered evasively.

He gently tossed a curl of brown hair that had stuck to Elena's sweaty forehead. "Such a pretty face… just like Tatia's. It's a shame she preferred Nick and Elejah over me, really. With her good looks and my gorgeousness, we would have been the talk of the village. You know, you doppelgangers have good genes" he added, smirking.

"Tatia was a whore, Kol. Just like all doppelgangers, it seems they can't settle for just one man at a time" Rebekah spat out.

"Jealous are we?" Kol teased her.

As the two Originals argued, Caroline noticed Elena's face grow greyer by the second, they needed to get her out quickly.

"Bonnie, it's okay" she said. "Go. Take Elena and leave, Bonnie".

Bonnie hesitated for a moment debating what to do, save one friend , but leave another one behind. But when her eyes fell on Elena's face she nodded in Kol's direction, giving her consent to the deal.

"Good girl" Kol said, smiling. He released his grip on Elena's heart and pushed her limp body in Bonnie's way. The young witch was barely able to catch Elena by the shoulders, before the baby vampire hit her head on the floor. Her blue dress was now stained with her blood, the whole in her chest slowly starting to heal. Bonnie gave Kol a look full of resentment.

"Oh, poor thing, she's exhausted" Rebekah mocked.

Both Originals laughed cruelly as they watched Bonnie's eyes fill with tears, calling out Elena's name, but their friend remained unconscious.

Kol joined his sister's side, before pulling Caroline up on her feet. He took her arm in a tight grasp and whispered in her ear "You look ravishing, dear".

She almost threw up in his face.

A phone ring pierced through Bonnie's mumbling, bringing Caroline back to reality. Rebekah pulled her phone out her back pocket and smiled triumphantly at her brother.

"He's here".

"Good let's go then, I'm getting bored" Kol said, before looking at Bonnie's murderous glare.

"Well if looks could kill…" he mocked. "Listen to me carefully Bennett witch, when Elena wakes up, you two are going to head as far away from this building as possible. If I hear you two coming near Caroline, and believe me I will be listening, your blond friend will be dead before you have a chance to call out her name. Am I being clear?"

The vervain was starting to make her head turn and Caroline slowly drifted into oblivion. The last thing she saw was Bonnie's defeated expression, as Kol and Rebekah dragged her unresponsive body, away from her friends.

* * *

Caroline woke up sitting in a wooden chair, her hands strapped in her back. She could still feel the vervain weakening her strength, keeping her from freeing herself, but at least her head was getting clearer.

She lifted her head and looked around at her surroundings, and realized she was in the gym and seemingly alone, as Rebekah and Kol were nowhere in sight. She was in the middle of the room, Prom decorations scattered on the floor all around her.

She suddenly heard movements in the stands on her right, before a familiar deep voice called her name out.

"Hello Caroline".

She turned her head quickly, and was now able to make out his figure, sitting in the stands. Caroline could feel his eyes on her, studying her shocked expression. She noticed he was holding his cellphone in his hands, flipping it open, before closing it and flipping it back open again.

"Tyler?" she asked in a weak voice. She wondered if she was hallucinating. Vervain never had that effect on her before, but she couldn't believe he was here, back in Mystic Falls. He said he wouldn't come back until he'd be ready to take his revenge on Klaus… and until he found a way around the bloodline issue. "What are you doing here?"

She had missed him so much, and yet seeing him now did not make her feel less vulnerable. Something was definitely wrong.

"Tyler, quick, untie me before they come back" she hurried him, trying to move her hands to the side so he'd have a better angle on the knots.

Why wasn't he doing anything? Why was he looking at her with such sad eyes?

"They are not coming back for you Care, they brought you to me. I think you and I need to have a little talk" he said, looking serious.

She looked at him confused. Did he just confess to being the one orchestrating the attack on her and her friends earlier? He must have been compelled, because this was not the Tyler she knew. He'd never let anyone hurt her, or her friends.

"Sure, let's talk, but why don't you take these ropes off of me first?" She didn't like the idea of a hand-to-hand combat against Tyler, but she thought that if she was to defend herself, she'd at least need to be able to move freely. Yet with the vervain slowing down her senses, she didn't give much hope to having the upper hand in the upcoming fight.

"No, I can't do that Caroline" he said. He finally stood up from his spot and made his way towards her.

"Why not? I was vervained, you know I can't get away…" she said. He was close enough now for her to notice he looked completely normal… okay, so maybe he wasn't compelled? Why was he acting like this?

"Tyler? Why do I have a feeling that you're one of the bad guys now?"

Tyler scoffed at her question. "Ah yes, the bad guys… What's wrong with that, I thought that it was your new turn on, nowadays" he said.

Caroline's brows furrowed in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"I'm talking about this" he said putting his cellphone a few inches from her face.

She was now staring at pictures of both Klaus and herself. They were close to one another, staring at each other right in the eyes. Tyler was scrolling down the list of pictures, all of them displaying an undeniable closeness between the blond vampire and the Original Hybrid. The last picture from the list was of Caroline grasping Klaus' chin, forcing his face close to hers, undoubtedly taken two weeks ago in Klaus' study.

"How did you…"

"Rebekah's been keeping me posted on your relationship with my mother's killer. I couldn't believe you could do that to me Caroline. I thought you loved me. At first I didn't want to believe her. I thought she was working for Klaus, trying to lure me back to Mystic Falls. But then she told me she was tired of putting up with Klaus' schemes and she heard about what happened on the Winter Wonderland's night. She offered me the best chance I could have at revenge against the bastard, without dying in the process."

"Tyler…"

"You know what that brilliant idea was? She told me the craziest story ever, about you being Klaus' biggest weakness. That no matter how hard he tried to lie to her about the way he felt about you, he'd always give up some pointers that he'd never stop having feelings for you… no matter how many times you betrayed him. And then she started sending me these pictures of you two… and then I saw it."

"It?" Caroline asked, perplexed.

"The look in your eyes when you look at him, Caroline. The kind of look I thought you only saved for me…" he scoffed. "You have feelings for him Caroline, and don't insult me by denying it".

Caroline opened her mouth to tell him he was wrong, but she found the words did not want to come out of her mouth.

"I… I never meant for this to happen Tyler" she said tears falling down her cheeks. "I'm sorry…"

He dropped his gaze and she heard him let out a small breath. She realized he must have still been holding on some small piece of hope that it had all been misinterpreted by Rebekah, but Caroline brought him crashing down on reality.

"Tyler, I … I don't know why it happened okay? I was mad at him for what he did to your mother but…"

"But somehow you forgave him" he snapped his head back up and she noticed his eyes had a golden glow to them, and his two sets of fangs were starting to show. "Rebekah had warned me. Still I hoped she was lying. I should have known. He's been lurking around you for months, and I've let him do it… he finally won you over."

"It wasn't like that, Tyler" she tried to calm him down.

"Here's what's going to happen now. I am going to take something important away from Klaus' life, the way he did to me. As we say, an Eye for an Eye… Tell me Caroline, can you guess what that important thing is?"

He turned his back on her before facing her again, and slamming his fists on the chair's arms, breaking her seat in the process and sending Caroline crashing down on the floor.

"TYLER!" she yelled in shock.

She got back on her feet, picking up a piece of wood from the ground in the process, and hid it in the back of her dress.

"Run Caroline. You are dead to me. Run as fast as you can, or I swear on my mother's grave you will be joining her very shortly".

He knelt on the ground and she clearly heard one of Tyler's bone snap. She quickly realized he was turning, shifting into his wolf form.

And then she ran.

* * *

Klaus was enjoying a glass of his most expensive bourbon, contemplating the rich brown color as he made it twirl in his favorite crystal glass.

Matt had come to pick Rebekah up a few hours ago, and he could not help himself from asking the human boy where he was taking his sister to.

"Prom of course. Didn't Caroline ask you to be her date? Oh, of course, you turned her down so, you wouldn't know it was tonight, right?" Matt had answered, defending his ex-girlfriend's honor.

Klaus had been taken aback by this announcement. Caroline had been here two weeks ago to ask him to be her Prom date? He knew Caroline made a great deal of her human life and everything that revolved around it. Inviting him to be her Prom date was something big, even he could understand that… He wandered if she'd been willing to ruin such an important part of her high school life, just to comply with her friends' never ending plans to kill him.

He wasn't so sure about it anymore.

He'd been deep in his thoughts when Rebekah had passed by him without saying goodbye, closing the front door behind her. He'd noticed she had only been wearing a simple black dress, which was odd he thought, as his sister would have normally vandalized all the boutiques in the nearby towns to ensure she'd be wearing the most gorgeous and expensive gown out there for this trivial event.

As for Kol, his younger brother was nowhere to be found. Probably Caroline's backup plan for the night, he bitterly thought.

He drowned the remaining drops of fluid from his glass and threw it into the fireplace. The glass exploded, sending shards flying everywhere in the room, but he couldn't care less.

What was wrong with him? The young blond vampire was always bringing out his possessive and over-protective self. He wanted to protect her, to be the only one she would care about. Those very thoughts put him in a very vulnerable situation, and he didn't like it one bit.

The front door opened and he heard Rebekah and Kol's voices coming towards the living room.

"Sister, Prom finished early tonight. How about you brother, were you off dancing with the town's teenagers again?" he smirked.

Rebekah looked around the room and spotted the shards of glass on the floor.

"You okay Nick?" smiling sweetly at him.

"Never better, love" he said making his way to his mini-bar again to get another glass out and pour himself another generous amount of bourbon.

Rebekah and Kol suddenly flashed to his side and pinned him against the wall making Klaus drop his second glass on the ground. The two younger Originals joined their forces to keep their older brother glued against the wall. Rebekah pulled out a silver dagger from her bag and inserted it into Klaus' stomach, making the Hybrid double back and scream in pain.

"What are you doing, let go of me right this instant!" he yelled at them.

Klaus then realized he'd been missing out on something, something important. He could now smell a small trace of Caroline's perfume in the air, mixed with the unmistakable scent of her blood.

"What have you done?" he asked, eyebrows knitted, barely able to keep the menace from his voice. If they had hurt Caroline…

"Well brother, we had some fun at the Prom, the way we Mikaelsons usually do…" Kol started.

With renewed forces Klaus pushed his assailants away, easily throwing Rebekah across the room. He pulled his brother by his collar and slammed him repeatedly against the opposite wall, bellowing "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!" his face an inch away from Kol's. "Where is Caroline?"

Kol smiled nonchalantly back at him, apparently amused by his rage.

Rebekah got back on her feet and sniggered.

"There it is, the source of your affection… or should I say of your weakness. Did you really think you could fool me in believing you had no feelings for her, Nick? I'm your sister, I've known you since forever, and I've never seen you act the way you do around her. You should know better, you know I can detect it when someone lies to me. You use to call it borderline supernatural. And yet you persist on trying to fool me."

Klaus snapped Kol's neck, leaving his limp body hit the floor hard, and walked up to Rebekah who was waiting in the middle of the room, arms crossed.

He grabbed her by her arms and started shaking her violently.

"Tell me what you did!" he yelled at her. "Where's Caroline?"

Rebekah simply smiled, unaffected by his outburst.

"She's at school, with Tyler."

Her words at the desired effect. Klaus let go of her as if her words had burned him.

"Tyler" he spat the name out. Had the two lovers finally reunited?

"Yes, Tyler. He's not very happy of her new "friendship" with you. I'd even say he is extremely angry at her. A real black fury. They've probably started their representation of _The_ _Little Red Riding Hood _with a little twist to it, I bet."

"You've left Caroline with Tyler… for him to kill her?" he asked bewildered. "Why would you do that? What did you think you could achieve by doing such a reckless thing?"

"Revenge" she said simply. "You've killed, and taken away all the men I loved in my life Nick. I think it was only fair for me to give you a taste of your own medicine."

Klaus snapped her neck, effectively silencing her, and took out the silver dagger from his stomach before sinking it into Rebekah's chest, without blinking.

He quickly ran to his study, pulled out a second silver dagger which he dipped in the white oak tree's ashes, before returning to the living room and dragging it into his other sibling's heart.

Now that they were taken care of, he needed to hurry to Caroline's help.

It was finally time for him to take down the black wolf, once and for all.


	10. Chapter 10 - Showdown on School Grounds

**A/N: Okay so chapters 9 and 10 used to be one big chapter, but I decided to cut them in two as it was a bit too long for my taste. Plus, you guys now have two new chapters to read :-).**

**Once again thank you all for your comments/reviews and for favoriting and following my story, it really means a lot and keeps me going.**

**Next chapter should have a great Klaroline scene in it. I'm excited just to think about it and hope you guys will like it too.**

**So here is chapter 10...**

* * *

Caroline ran as fast as she could. She'd been able to cut the ropes restraining her wrists after a few seconds of rubbing against one of the lockers outside the gym's entrance. She was happy that she had regained some of her strength, but the vervain still made it difficult for her to run at vampire speed for more than two seconds straight. She tried her best anyway.

She ran for the school's main entrance, the nearest exit she could think of, and tried pushing the door as hard as she could, but after a few seconds of unsuccessful attempts, she realized the other side of the door had been blocked by a gigantic block of cement that normally sat in the school's parking lot. Rebekah and Kol had undoubtedly pushed it all the way there to prevent her from escaping Tyler`s wrath so easily. Because of her weakened strength she couldn't move the door more than a few centimeters away, and she had to turn around to find another possible exit before Tyler got to her.

She could hear him yelling from the pain the transformation was still inflicting him. She was taken back to the times she stayed by his side during his first shiftings, giving him the strength and comfort he had desperately needed at the time. She quickly pushed these irrelevant thoughts away as this was not the time to stir happy memories from the past. Tyler would be coming after her in no time now, and she knew she needed to find an exit as soon as possible if she did not want to become the werewolf's next meal.

After trying all the first floor's classrooms' doors and finding them all locked, she ran up the first flight of stairs she came across, hoping she'd be luckier on the second floor.

She made it up two steps before she was roughly pulled from behind and slammed hard against the nearby lockers. She got on her knees before turning around to see who had attacked her, and there, in front of her, stood a black wolf, his eyes bright yellow and his lips curled back revealing his sharp white fangs. A piece of red fabric was stuck in between his jaws and Caroline realized it was a piece from the train of her dress.

Tyler flexed his hind legs and jumped for her throat, but Caroline side-stepped just in time to avoid the bite. She grabbed the piece of the broken chair she had hidden in her back and trusted it into the wolf's side, before he hit the ground.

She didn't wait to see if he was dead, knowing full well a mere wooden stake would not kill a hybrid, and she ran back the way she came, retracing her footsteps, and headed for the gymnasium where she could use the emergency exit, now that Tyler had vacated the place.

She passed by the lockers and turned the corner to the gym's entrance running as fast as she could. She might not have regained all her vampire speed but it was close enough for her taste.

As she made her way to the blood red door, passing by the remaining of her wooden chair spread across the floor, she shouldered it hard hoping it would open on her first attempt. She quickly realized that it must have been blocked in the exact same way as the main entrance had been, because it did not budge.

"Shit" she muttered, she had stupidly thought the two Mikaelsons would have left that one unattended for some reason.

She spun around ready to leave the room, when she noticed the wolf was back, blocking her now only available exit.

"Tyler" she pleaded. "Listen to me, please. You don't want to do this".

She knew it was no use. That the wolf's animal instincts had taken over his rationality, leaving him vicious, unpredictable and unmerciful.

The wolf growled menacingly and gave her a warning bark as if to recommend she stopped the bargaining plea. Saliva was dripping from its lower lip and she could see his flanks moving fast, the hair on its back was now covered in blood. There was no questioning that the wolf was angry, and this time it was out for the kill.

* * *

Klaus ran at super vampire speed all the way to Mystic Falls' High School. The journey might have taken him only a few seconds, but he knew Caroline's life was hanging by a thread at the very moment and every second was of the outmost importance. He arrived in the parking lot and spotted the Bennett witch and the doppelganger in a heated conversation.

"… Tyler's gonna kill her, Bonnie, we have to go back inside and help Caroline. We can't wait for Stefan's help, he might be too late."

"We can't do anything, Elena, or Caroline will have two killers on her tail. Kol warned me."

Klaus flashed between the two, startling them both.

"Klaus!" Elena exclaimed, relief sounding in her voice.

"Where is she?" he asked. He listened intently trying to make out the sounds that were coming to him from inside the building.

"I think she's in the gym…" Elena started.

"You two listen to me, go to Caroline's house and wait there. Just stay inside and wait. Don't try coming to help, do you understand?"

"But we _can_ help…" Bonnie started. Now that Klaus was here she felt safer to go inside against the other Mikaelsons. If Caroline trusted him, she would too… even after all he'd put her through over the last few months. For a second she had thought he was behind Rebekah and Kol' attack but when Elena came back to her senses and yelled at her for letting their blond friend locked inside, alone against an angry Tyler, Bonnie had freaked out. Elena had pleaded that she couldn't hear Rebekah or Kol anywhere, that they had probably left, but Bonnie had not been willing to risk being the cause of Caroline`s death by coming back on her promise to the Original.

"I said leave now, it will not be safe for you here… and I know Caroline would be furious if she knew I'd have led you to your certain death."

He saw the two girls' stubborn expressions, not different from their blond friend's willfulness, and he knew no arguments would make them leave their friend behind. He concentrated on Elena and caught her eyes with his own, pupils dilating as he used compulsion on her.

"You will leave now for the Forbes' house and take Bonnie with you. Do not let her out of your sight."

Elena quickly nodded, grabbed Bonnie's arm firmly and sped off dragging her friend with her.

Klaus exhaled deeply and started running towards the school's main entrance, stripping off his clothes as he went. He set aside the cement block with one easy push, and cautiously stepped inside the building.

* * *

Caroline yelled as the wolf tackled her, knocking her off her feet, and sending her flying into the stands.

She got back on her feet as fast as she could, desperately trying to find something to help her defend herself. The pieces of wood in the middle of the place would not be of much help.

She saw Tyler's ears move up and down, and immediately noticed a change in his attitude, as he grew even more ferocious towards her snapping his jaws, trying to tear off one of her arm.

She suddenly heard a deep howling sound coming from the gym's entrance and she immediately moved her body so she'd have a better view on the now two imminent threats on her life. She automatically lost her focus on the black wolf in front of her the moment she saw the large white wolf that made his way across the room, closer to them.

She looked at it completely fascinated by the sight of it. The wolf was majestic, its fur reflected the lights from the gym's ceiling and his yellow eyes glowed with intelligence. She knew it was another werewolf and hoped it wasn't Hayley coming to give Tyler a hand at ripping her into pieces.

Just as that thought crossed her mind, she realized it must have been a diversion for her to let her guard down and as she turned her attention back to Tyler, she saw him in midair aiming from her head. She swiftly pulled her arm up to protect herself.

When the black wolf's fangs ripped open her skin, she felt an agonizing pain pierce through her arm and the burning sensation, that inevitably came with the wolf bites, hit her hard. She lost her balance and fell on the ground, before she heard the white wolf's vicious snarls as it jumped on Tyler, pushing him away from Caroline's limp body. It put its large body in front of Caroline, protecting her from any other attack coming from the black canine.

The two beasts circled each other, growling and barking at each other. The white wolf always made sure he was covering any possible angle to prevent Tyler from getting to the blond vampire's weak form lying against the gym's stands.

While they were having their howling match, Caroline felt her mind slowly lose its grip on consciousness, yet she was hoping the white wolf, she called it Sirius as it reminded her of that shining star from the other night, was going to win this showdown.

Tyler was the first to make a move, leaping towards Sirius, all fangs out ready to tear him apart. Caroline quickly closed her eyes afraid to see her savior get killed in front of her. As she heard a yelp of pain from one of the wolves, she couldn't help her eyes from opening.

There, on top of Tyler's body, was Sirius, his jaws closed around the black wolf's neck and his front legs holding the smaller beast firmly on the ground.

Caroline saw Tyler's eyes turn in their orbits as Sirius was close to tear his head off with his fangs. Although she knew Tyler would not have hesitated to kill her a few seconds ago, she couldn't bear the thought of witnessing his death, and she still felt responsible for his current state.

"Stop it please!" she cried out at the white wolf. "He's out cold, he can't do us any harm now, please, don't kill him" she pleaded.

After a few seconds of hesitation, the dominant wolf let go of Tyler's throat, and looked at Caroline closely. It skipped over the other animal's body, making its way to the blond vampire's recumbent form.

She fought the urges to run away from it, as she knew she no longer had the strength to get up. The combination of the vervain and the werewolf bite had rendered her completely incapacitated. She closed her eyes when she noticed the wolf's muzzle coming closer to her injured arm.

All of a sudden, she felt the air around her shift and opened her eyes out of curiosity, to see if the wolf had fled from the scene. Instead she came face to face with Klaus.

She flushed deeply when she realized he was completely naked, kneeling in front of her. She closed her eyes again not ready to witness such personal parts of him.

"Caroline" he said in a soft voice. When she didn't answer, he put his hand gently on her shoulder, and shook her lightly. "Caroline, answer me love. Please, open your eyes"

"No" she answered. She felt exhausted and knew she was going to die soon. "You're naked" she answered as if it wasn't obvious. "Go put some clothes on."

"You're about to die, and all you can think about is my nudity. Here" he said tilting her head so he could put his wrist in a better angle for her to bite down on his flesh. "Drink."

She opened her eyes and saw his wrist close to her lips. "You're not giving me a choice." She simply said looking into his eyes, not bringing out her fangs.

He felt like her glare was piercing through his very soul. He frowned at her before looking back at Tyler's unconscious body.

"What are you talking about, love?" He knew they didn't have much time. He needed her to drink from him or she would die. The fact that this was her second werewolf bite in less than a year, combined with the vervain in her system - he could smell it's perfume in the air around her - this was too much for such a young vampire to bear.

Her chance at survival was thin, and he had to restrain himself from ripping Tyler's head off, now and then, as he knew he needed to keep his attention on Caroline if he didn't want to lose himself to a rampage fit again. He could not permit himself that luxury, not when the young woman was depending on him to keep her safe and alive. He brought his gaze back on her beautiful face trying to forget the traitor's form behind him.

"On my birthday" she said, unaware of his internal battle, "you had given me the choice to die or to keep on living. Why aren't you giving me the option now?" Her eyes were closed again as if keeping them opened was taking too much of her energy.

"You're not going to die Caroline" he said forcefully. "Drink now, love. This will save you."

"But why?" she said, "Why should I keep on living, my life's a mess. I keep on being tortured. I'm tired Klaus, I've cheated death twice now. I think it's time I accept my death as inevitable."

She wasn't sure she actually wanted to die, all she knew was that she felt sick and exhausted. She had a throbbing pain in her head and she no longer had the strength to fight against it. She knew her friends would be sad if she died, but she also knew they were all well surrounded, and they'd support her mother in this crisis. She'd be missed, but in time they'd get over it. Everyone would.

Klaus felt like his world was suddenly crashing down on him. "What are you telling me Caroline" he demanded, finally dropping down his arm and looking at her with concern.

She was about to answer but he cut her off.

"You are not leaving me, you will not die, do you hear me?"

She looked up at him to see his blue eyes glowing with unshed tears. She was taken aback by the force of emotions that were coming from him, as he took her hands in his and looked at her intently.

Then, without a warning, he bent down and kissed her lips softly, caressing her jaw line with one of his fingers in a way that made her whole body melt.

Suddenly, the hurt she had felt for the past hours was gone and all she could feel was the sweet taste of his lips on hers. The kiss stopped as quickly as it started and it left Caroline breathing hard and longing for more.

He drew back, without ending the eye contact and said in a barely contained voice "I will not let you die on me, Caroline."

She was about to agree, when she abruptly doubled back, coughing blood. Her face instantly lost all its remaining colors, she was white as a ghost and feverish. He brought his wrist back to her lips and claimed that she "bite down hard". Hell, he'd compel her to do it, if he needed to.

But it turned out he didn't have to as she did not argue this time.

She felt her fangs elongating before she bit his soft skin with as much force as she could utter. The moment his sweet blood hit her tongue, she felt her muscles relax and the burning fire inside her body was almost instantly extinguished. She closed her eyes at the salvation she felt at that very moment, happy to still be alive after all.

"That's it love" she heard Klaus say, his voice quivering. "You're safe now."

She let herself fall asleep in his arms, knowing he'd keep her from any harm.

The moment he saw her drift into sleep, he laid her body gently on the ground, got back up and turned around, ready to end Tyler's miserable life. Whatever Caroline had asked, he would not permit his former lieutenant to live after what he just did to Caroline.

But the moment he turned around, he realized the black wolf was no longer in sight. Only a pool of his blood remained behind.

Klaus cursed. He should have killed the bastard hybrid when he had the chance. He closed the space between him and Caroline, listening all the while for any clue of where Tyler was now hiding. There were no traces of his scent either and the school seemed deserted. Maybe the kid finally understood he was no match for him. Tyler might have been a werewolf for a little while longer than Klaus had, but the Original had a thousand years on the young man, he was faster, stronger and more experienced in combat than the Lockwood kid. The cub stood no chance.

After assuring himself that there were no one else in the school apart from the two of them, Klaus picked Caroline up, and made his way to the locker room where he rummaged around to find a pair of pants to put on, before he ran with her in his arms to the school's main entrance.

* * *

He arrived at the Forbes' house, all lights inside where on and he could see Caroline's mother pacing around in their small living room, Bonnie and Elena were sitting next to one another on the large family couch, their hands joined in a silent prayer for their friend's safety.

He got to the front door and rang the doorbell, politely waiting for someone to greet him, while keeping a look out at the house's surroundings.

* * *

The women took Caroline upstairs, leaving Klaus in the family living room, alone with his thoughts.

First off, he now knew his brother and sister had been plotting against him all along, pretending to be on his side. They'd made him think all this time that they were behind him and his plan to get the cure, but it had all been a lie. It seemed that they'd been working on getting their revenge on him by planning Caroline's death by the hands of his now number one enemy.

There must have been an ulterior motive but he couldn't figure out what it was.

He took out his phone and dialed Stefan's number. His long lost friend picked up after the third ring, his voice hoarse.

"Klaus?"

" 'Evening mate. Have you been drinking your sorrows away again?" he asked, not interested one bit about the answer he'd be getting. Other issues mattered a lot more at the moment. Stefan's would have to get over his personal situation, at least for the next few hours.

"What do you want?"

"I have a mission for you Stefan…"

"Not interested" Stefan said, ready to hang up. He wasn't up to play Klaus' little soldier tonight.

"Oh but you see, I beg to defer. This has to do with your friend Caroline. Her safety's on the line right now." Klaus interjected.

"Wait, Caroline's in danger? What happened?" Stefan asked, concerned.

"Now that's more like it." Klaus wondered how it would be to have real friends who actually cared about your wellbeing. People who wouldn't help you because you ordered them to, but because they loved you and wanted to know you were safe.

He related everything that happened, providing additional information he had got from Elena and Bonnie's conversation with the Sheriff from upstairs. The rest came from his personal experience from the night's events.

"So Tyler's back in town, out for revenge on both you and Caroline, and your siblings have double crossed you on top of that."

"Glad to know you registered that mate" Klaus answered humorlessly. "Now I need you to go to my house and store Rebekah and Kol' bodies away before someone undaggers them…"

"If you're referring to my brother…"

"I don't care who it is. Undaggering them would mean Caroline's life would be in constant danger from now on." Klaus pointed out.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it right now" Stefan said after a short pause. He hung up and left the Boarding House on his way to the Mikaelsons'.

Klaus sat back in one of the room's uncomfortable chairs, and waited for Liz and the girls to come down.

* * *

He was starting to lose his patience, what was going on upstairs, was something wrong with Caroline?

Had his blood not healed her completely?

He had just left his seat, and was halfway across the room when his phone rang. He picked it up and noted Stefan's name appearing on the caller ID.

"Stefan…" he answered.

"We have a problem" Stefan cut in. "The bodies are gone."


	11. Chapter 11 - A Second Chance

**A/N: Thank you all for your patience and nice comments! Here it is my biggest chapter so far. Hope it won't be a mess. **

**Looking forward to reading you reviews as the more I receive, the more it encourages me to keep on going with the story.**

**See you at the bottom.**

* * *

"What do you mean they're gone!?"

"They were gone when I arrived, it seems they had foreseen you lashing out on them and they had an accomplice waiting for you to leave the house, before he undaggered them."

"Tyler…" Klaus growled, bile coming up his throat.

"I don't know Klaus, maybe it _was_ Tyler… but wouldn't it have been a long shot, even for Rebekah and Kol, to bet on Tyler's survival at a confrontation against you?"

Klaus considered the possibility of his siblings having several allies on their side, and the thought did nothing to ease up his mood.

"I'll find out who that person is… and when I do, I will hunt him down and…"

"There's something else" Stefan intervened.

"What?"

"According to a note they left you, they stole the hunter's sword from your safe."

* * *

Klaus made his way up the stairs, entranced by his burning need to kill or destroy something. He banged on Caroline's bedroom' door, trying to restrain himself from breaking it in the process.

Elizabeth Forbes came to the door, placing her body in a way that blocked him access to the room.

"Let me in, woman" he grunted. "I will need to stay near your daughter to ensure her protection. You do want her to be safe now, do you?"

"You are not needed anymore" Liz answered back. "We have the situation under control."

Klaus scoffed, "Do you, now?"

Bonnie left Caroline's bedside to join Mrs Forbes, facing Klaus with pride.

"Yes. I've casted a protection spell on and around the house. Nobody can get inside, even those who had previously been invited in. And the house itself will be immune to any external attacks. She'll be safe, Klaus."

The Hybrid was surprised by the young witch's statement.

"Hadn't you lost your powers, witch? Weren't you rendered as useless as a mere human, not long ago?"

Bonnie looked at him with a determined expression. Her friends had kept this piece of information secret from the Original Hybrid as they were sure he would try to use her again for his demoniacal plans.

Now that Caroline had befriended Klaus, Bonnie knew she would be safe, at least if he wished to remain on her good side. If he didn't, well she'd show him what she was capable of now.

"I've started studying a new form of magic" she said. "Expression permits me to..."

"Expression?" Klaus asked getting more and more surprised by the second. "Well, who would have thought one of the Bennett witches would finally join the dark side, having a thirst for power are you?" he laughed.

"I'm not doing dark magic, it's just a different form of witchcraft and it lets me use my powers without having to drain my energy at the same time, and there is nothing bad..."

But Klaus was not listening to her anymore, and he let Bonnie delusion herself with the wishful thinking she was still as white as a dove.

His mind had wandered to Bonnie's new mentor, the one teaching her this "new form of witchcraft" – as Expression was not the kind of sorcery that could be learned in spell books – and he was wondering if it was not that same person that had led him to execute his twelve hybrids a few weeks back.

Expression, he remembered, required the sacrifice of 12 people to tap deep into the earth's magic providing an extreme amount of energy to the witch summoning it.

This could not be a mere coincidence, and he did not appreciate being played as a pawn in someone else's game.

But no fret, he would eventually find out who that teacher was and would let him, or her, know not to mess with Klaus Mikaelson.

"Expression or not, your magic will have its limits. With Tyler and my brother and sister out for revenge, Caroline will not be safe for long under your spell."

"Wait, what? I thought you said you had taken care of Rebekah and Kol?!" Elena called from Caroline's side. She got up to meet them in the doorway, keeping a close eye on Caroline's sleeping form, as they all were.

"Yes well, it seems they had known I was going to incapacitate them, as someone made sure to undagger them before I had a chance to lock their bodies away."

Klaus noticed the doppelganger and the witch exchange a knowing look before looking away innocently.

"What?" Klaus asked menacingly. "Tell me what are you keeping from me?" He advanced on the two girls, ready to get the information out of them by force if needed.

He would find out who revived his siblings, sooner rather than later, and then he would plan his next attack. As soon as Caroline would have regained her strengths back, that is. He would hunt his brother and sister down, kill their accomplice and then, if that person was not his hybrid traitor, he would find Tyler and take pleasure in inflicting him the worst tortures he could come up with, before ending his miserable life.

"We will tell you who we_ think_ undaggered them, but you have to promise us not to hurt him" Elena said cautiously.

Klaus looked at her, eyebrows raised. Did she really think she could still bargain with him after all this time?

"Now there, you know I can't make such a promise, sweetheart. Why would I do such a thing?"

"Because Caroline would want you to spare his life" Bonnie intervened.

"Caroline's blind trust in the people surrounding her has put her in the state she is right now" he pointed out.

"Caroline trusts you, are you saying she shouldn't?" Caroline's mother asked sarcastically. She wasn't fooled by his so called aristocratically good manners. And she just knew deep down inside that he was behind Carol Lockwood's death. She couldn't prove it, so she abandoned the case and didn't even bother discussing her doubts and suspicions with the new Mayor. And even if she could prove his guiltiness, what could she do against a thousand years old vampire?

Yet that was not what scared her the most about this man, it was the warmth she could detect between her only daughter and the monster standing in front of her that drove her motherly heart completely insane these days.

Sadly, she had the feeling that right now, he was the only one truly capable of protecting Caroline.

Klaus looked at Liz, smiling, as if he could read her mind "Your daughter's safe with me, and if it's her virtue you're afraid for, don't worry I can behave as a gentleman".

The sheriff scoffed which made him frown; frustrated that she would laugh at his last remark. He didn't know why it bothered him that much though. Was it because since he had feelings for the daughter, he now wanted the mother to accept him as well... Was he getting that pathetic?

Yet, acceptance had always been something he'd been longing for.

"Anyway" Elena intervened "in this particular case we can trust her judgment, since your sister has him under compulsion."

Klaus looked at her, suddenly realizing who the mysterious person must be.

"Let me guess...Busboy?"

"Matt" Bonnie corrected him.

Great, another reason to dislike the kid, he thought. Yet he had to admit the girls were right... Caroline would never forgive him if he so much as broke her human ex-boyfriend's arm, let alone kill him.

Elena noticed Klaus' pensive expression and was afraid he'd actually consider going after their friend, whether the night's events were his fault or not. She knew she needed to do something to get his mind off his revenge mode.

"Mrs Forbes, I think Klaus is right" she said.

All eyes turned to meet hers. Klaus' were burning with an interior fire, piercing through her soul, trying to detect any sign of mutiny.

"What?" Liz asked her, shocked at what she considered treachery from her daughter's friend. It was the Original Vampire's fault if Caroline was in danger; it was his fault if they were in the mess they were. How could they all blindly believe and trust him to keep her daughter safe. How could_ she_ even let him inside her house again?

"I think Klaus should stay close to Caroline, at least until she is feeling better. Bonnie's magic will keep Tyler, Rebekah and Kol away, should they wish to pay this house a visit, but if they ever find a way around your spell Bonnie, Klaus is the only one that could confront them. He'd be our safety net."

Bonnie looked at her friend with a hurt expression, but did not argue. She had faith in her talents and if everyone around her had doubts about them, they'd have a surprise later down the line.

"We can stay in the room next door" Elena added. "If we suspect anything, Bonnie can use her powers on Klaus to protect Caroline." She knew she had hurt her friend's feelings with her last uttered words, but Matt's life could be in jeopardy if they didn't get Klaus on their side fast.

Klaus looked at the trio in front of him, amused.

How foolish of them to think they were powerful enough to fight him. Would he want to kill them all, he'd do it in a snap of his fingers.

Bonnie nodded at Elena, "I could do it. I took down an Original before; I could do it again..." She looked at Klaus defiantly, challenging him to differ.

"Then it's settled", Klaus said facing Caroline's mother. "Now, the time we wasted having this nice little chat, my brother and sister could have used to find one of the many powerful old witches we keep contact with, to break through your spell. So, please, let me in so I can keep guard on your daughter." He gave Liz an innocent and pleading look, before she finally gave in and let him inside the small room.

He approached Caroline's bed and sat by her side, looking at her apparent peaceful form. He touched her beautiful fair hair, pushing away a rebellious curl from her eyes, and in that moment he felt like the two of them were alone in the intimate space.

He kept his gaze on the blond beauty sleeping before him, enchanted by her. He had been afraid to lose her tonight and he swore he would not let her out of his sight ever again.

Caroline had been cleaned up, her hair had been washed and her skin smelled like lavender. He noticed her mother and friends had put her in her pyjamas and he noted her red satin dress, torn in a few places and stained with blood, had been abandoned in a corner of the room.

When he had arrived in the gym earlier that night and saw her in a warrior princess stance, weakened by vervain but still ready to fight a werewolf all by herself, he had been impressed and scared for her life at the same time.

Lost in his contemplation of her face he didn't notice the three women leaving the room, the Sheriff mumbling, "I'll go get you a chair" before she went.

Liz came back with, without a doubt, the most uncomfortable wooden chair of the house, which she put by the room's only window. She gave Klaus one last glance before she left, and by the look she saw in his eyes when looking at Caroline, she understood where their blind faith in him came from, and knew that somehow her daughter would be safe with the serial killer.

* * *

Klaus had finally left Caroline's bedside to have a look outside by the window sill. He had texted Stefan and asked that he bring him a few things he'd need for the next few hours, as he could and would not take the liberty of leaving Caroline's side. He heard Stefan's silent footsteps in the nearby streets and from what he got from the conversation between Elena and Bonnie in a room not far from Caroline's, the doppelganger had been alerted by it too. She fled down the stairs to meet Stefan by the spell bound's limit.

Klaus could see them clearly by one of the streetlights, and he was amused by how they both now seemed uncomfortable around each other.

"Hi" Elena said, smiling shyly at him. "How are you?"

"Hey" Stefan replied back, looking anywhere but directly at her. After a few more seconds of silence he finally spoke again. "I'm good. I brought Klaus a few things he asked for, he said it would help him keep an eye on Caroline."

"Why would you fetch stuff for him?" she asked bewildered.

"Because he said he couldn't leave her, that he will stay by her side until she is back on her feet". _And I would have done the same for you_, he thought. "How are you and Bonnie handling the house arrest?"

"It's not a house arrest per say, everyone inside the house when the spell was casted are able to come and go as they please. It is Klaus' wish to remain by Caroline's side. I think he genuinely has strong feelings for her and actually cares for her safety."

Klaus frowned at that, was he being that obvious? Would they take advantage of his weakness for the blond vampire again?

"Do you think she feels the same about him?" Stefan asked.

Klaus leaned closer to the window, listening intently at the conversation taking place between the former lovers. He was also keen to know everything there was about Caroline's feelings towards him. He couldn`t help but wish she'd finally give him a chance.

He saw Elena tap at her ear with her pointer finger before she responded to Stefan's question, and he knew the little pest would censure her answer, probably expecting him to be eavesdropping.

"It is not my place to talk about her emotions for him but...I think she cares for Klaus, yet I know she loved Tyler deeply and I think she will need to grieve over the end of their relationship before she moves on."

Stefan looked down and nodded his head twice before speaking again.

"Like you grieved over our breakup before you started "something" with my brother."

Elena was hit hard by the pain and sadness she perceived in Stefan's voice. She never meant to hurt him, no matter what had happened between the two. She still cared for him.

"Stefan, it wasn't like that..."

"No, save it Elena" Stefan said before dropping his bag on the ground and turning his back on her.  
"Please tell Caroline I said hi, and advise Klaus I'll touch base soon" he said before speeding off.

Klaus could hear Elena's soft sobbing as she walked to where Stefan had stood a second before, knelt down to retrieve the sport bag he'd dropped, and then moved back into the protected perimeters of the house. Unable to bear the grief she felt any longer, she fell on the grass hugged her knees and started crying.

How pathetic those two were, Klaus thought. Two soul mates unable to find their way back together.

He turned his hyper hearing off unable to endure the baby vampire's sorrow any longer. If these two weren't having their happy ending, how could he expect one with Caroline? He was wondering, since he had never been blessed with felicity before in his life, if a chance at happiness was too much for him to ask.

He turned to look at Caroline's face, peaceful in her well-deserved sleep, and his own features softened instantly. Perhaps they were indeed doomed, but that never stopped him from pursuing his goals before.

* * *

Caroline was feeling like she was floating on a cloud made of cotton candy. Just a few minutes seemed to have passed since she had been lying on the school gym's floor, Tyler's poison coursing through her veins with Klaus' blood battling it, making its way through her body and eliminating all traces of the other werewolf's saliva in the process. She remembered the taste of Klaus' blood on her tongue, how it tasted like heaven to her. She had never had something so sweet and empowering in her whole life before she had had her first taste at it.

Klaus. He had saved her, again. She had never thought that Sirius, the majestic white wolf that had come to her rescue, was in fact the Original Hybrid himself. Yet she should have had. Just a few weeks ago, she had been staring at the night sky and had casted Sirius as a perfect metaphor for her feelings for Klaus. And she had been right to think of him the way she did.

Klaus _was_ the Greater Dog. He had once told her he didn't have to prove his all-mightiness to anyone, and he had been right, he _was_ the ultimate Alpha male and he could have killed Tyler without even breaking a sweat.

Tyler. She knew that once he'd heard that she had befriended Klaus he'd get mad and feel betrayed. This time though, he had been ready to kill her… Although he always had been short tempered when he got mad, never would she have thought that he'd want to kill her and use her death as his revenge at Klaus.

And how could he even believe Rebekah's words and think that Klaus held her, Caroline Forbes, in such high esteem that he'd be as deeply affected by her death as Tyler had been over his mother's murder. It was ridiculous, completely and utterly stupid, yet... She had to admit she cared for Klaus, but she hadn't been sure the Original Hybrid felt the same about her, until the kiss... What had that been all about?

She could see it all again; Klaus kneeling in front of her (naked!-yet she did not allow herself to look at him properly at the time) pleading for her to feed from him so she could go on living. Something in that moment, perhaps because of the agitation she discerned in his eyes, had pushed Caroline to question her right to survive through the night's events. This had triggered such a powerful reaction from the Original, he'd dropped his protective barriers down and displaying a vulnerability - he was probably ashamed of now - before finally kissing her on the mouth. It had been a sweet kiss, full of promises and despair mixed within. It hadn't been a passionate exchange, like the ones from her dreams in the forest. Yet the fact that it had been real and because of the amount of emotions it had triggered inside of her, it made it that much more powerful to her.

She didn't know what to make of it now, though...

Would he act as if it never happened? Would he expect her to retaliate? What would she do if that were the case? Could she, at some point when she was ready, fall for him now that her relationship with Tyler was definitely over? Could she love a man that was so tortured by his family's past and present rejections and betrayals, that committing murder had become an immediate answer to every double-crossing and perfidy he came across?

Could she accept he made innocent victims like Carol Lockwood had been? The answer was no, of course she could never approve of his past methods of action, but should he have a change of heart, could she really forgive him for all the horrible things he'd done in the past and move on? That, she didn't know, but a small voice in her head kept hoping she would.

* * *

Klaus saw Caroline stir in her sleep, tossing and turning, her breathing getting faster and sharper by the second.

She started mumbling incomprehensible words as he walked up to her bed and sat on the edge of the mattress, stroking her damp hair and murmuring soothing words. "There, there, love" he said. "It's just a nightmare."

"Klaus" she whimpered, still sound asleep.

Bonnie and Elena came bursting through the door; worried that Caroline was in danger. When they realized Caroline was still in dreamland, they calmed down a little, taking a few tentative steps closer to the bed.

"Is she okay?" Elena asked as she took in Klaus' concerned look.

"She's just having bad dreams" Klaus replied. He caressed her forehead with his fingers sending her happy thoughts and memories, working his influence on her mind. "Wouldn't have expected less, considering what she's been through tonight he finished, straightening up."

He made his way back to the wooden chair, concealing how much he was disturbed by the images that had come to him from Caroline's head. She had been crying his name out, not because she was scared _of_ him, but because she was scared _for_ him. He had seen his own body lying still on the ground, Tyler on top of him holding the handle of the White Oak Stake against his chest, before he caught on fire.

His cell phone buzzed, bringing him back to reality. He shut his emotions off before answering, knowing it would be his good soldier Stefan, ready for his report.

"Stefan, please tell me you have good news for me, mate."

"I think I've found a lead" Stefan's voice came in a whisper. "I can't talk much right now, but as soon as I find them I'll let you know."

"Stefan, bring Matt back to us please!" Elena cried out. "Protect him."

"Yes, Stefan, do bring dear old Matt back, I can't wait to have him at arm's length" Klaus said ignoring the girls' murderous looks. "But most importantly, bring me back the hunter's sword."

From the corner of his eyes he saw Bonnie and Elena exchange a shocked look.

"I'll take care of Matt. And as for the sword, as soon as I have an opening, I'll go for it" Stefan said before hanging up.

"They took the sword?" Bonnie cried out. "You didn't tell us that before." Although the girls knew they did not need the artefact to get to the tomb where the cure was buried, Klaus didn't, and they wanted to keep it that way. They didn't want him to know they had a human compass in Shane.

"I might have failed to mention this little detail earlier, while I was debating Caroline's safety with you obstinate women. But now, as you can see, it is primordial that we get it back, especially if you want that cure" he said, giving a significant look at the doppelganger.

"Does that mean they could go for Jeremy next?" Elena asked worried.

"That's a possibility" Klaus said. The idea of his brother and sister potentially ruining his plan to get to the cure had been nagging at him since Stefan had reported the sword's disappearance. "So I'd contact your boyfriend, if I were you, and tell him to keep your brother safe until we have a better idea of what my siblings have planned."

Elena took out her cellphone before quickly exiting the room.

"Now Bonnie, what would you think about giving me a magical hand in this new plan of mine?"

* * *

Caroline woke up hours later on a mountain of pillows. Her hair smelled of her favourite shampoo, her wounds had also been cleaned and she had her favourite pyjamas on. She looked around, confused, and realized she was in her room, the lights were off and the sky was pitch-black outside. As she tried to sit up straighter, she felt every single muscle of her bodies scream in pain. How long had she been in bed? The last thing she remembered was falling asleep in Klaus' arms in the school's gym.

The gym… where she should have had the best night of her senior year, where she should have enjoyed her Prom night with her friends… instead she had lived her worst possible nightmare; getting tortured both physically and emotionally, and coming close to being killed by the one person she had thought of as her soul mate.

She had had actual nightmares all night, interspersed by short peaceful and joyful dreams. Yet, the night's events kept on creeping their way back into her mind, no matter how hard she wanted them gone from her head, and she had a feeling they would haunt her for a very long time.

Her door creaked opened and the light coming from the passageway temporarily blinded her before her sight re-adjusted itself and she saw Bonnie and Elena make their way into her room, smiling broadly at her. Caroline was relieved to see them both safe. She hugged Elena first, ignoring the aching feeling coming from her tired muscles, as she was just so happy to see her and glad to confirm Kol hadn't killed her.

Bonnie clicked open the lamp from her bedside table, and sat on the bed before joining her two best friends in a tight embrace.

"How are you feeling Caroline?"

"I'm fine" she said. "A bit tired and stiff but I'm okay… I'm alive, so I shouldn't complain. It's all thanks to you… and Klaus."

"Don't mention it" Elena said. "Here", she started rummaging through her backpack and pulled out a blood bag.

Excited at the sight of it, Caroline leaned forward and ripped it from Elena's hands.

"Oh thank you!" Caroline took out the tip from the bag and the scent of blood coming from it made her fangs and the black veins around her eyes stand out. She took a small sip at first, closing her eyes as she enjoyed the sweetness and soothing sensation of the liquid filling her mouth and body. _Ah A positive, her favourite_, and before she knew it, she had finished it in one big gulp.

"That should help you get your strengths back" Elena said smiling at her. She had been so scared to lose yet another member of her now-considerably-reduced circle of friends and family. If it wasn't for the excruciating feeling of guilt she felt towards Stefan, she'd be dancing and doing backflips around the small room.

"I'm just curious as to why I'm still feeling so weak and exhausted." the blond vampire said, looking at her friends for an answer. She hated feeling like she did; it reminded her of how defenseless she had been as a human.

She saw her two best friends exchange a look, and knew she would not like what was coming.

"Klaus said..." Bonnie started.

"Klaus?" Caroline asked, "is he okay?"

"Of course he's okay Caroline, why are you so worried?"

"I ... I just had a bad dream" she said dismissively. In one of her nightmares her mind had wandered to the possibility of Tyler killing Klaus right in front of her. She had felt such despair at the sight of his lifeless human form lying on the ground, before it caught on fire. Then, a moment later, her dreams had shifted and had brought her to a more pleasant and calming memory, as she relived the Miss Mystic Fall's Pageant day with the Original, the two of them drinking champagne and laughing, enjoying their time together.

"Anyway" Bonnie continued, "he said that your body will take at least a few more hours to heal itself. It's a longer process because of the fact that you were weakened by the vervain _before_ getting your second wolf bite of the year. He said those two factors together are very dangerous for any vampire, especially for a young one such as yourself... Well you're the first to actually survive a first attack before being bitten a second time, but he said you'll be fine now."

Caroline pondered for a second, before questioning her friends again.

"Where is he? Why are you two in my house? How long have I been out?"

"Whoa, slow down with the interrogation, Care" Elena laughed. "Klaus' outside keeping guard just under your window. And we are here for two reasons, to keep you safe, and... for a surprise. And to answer your last question, you've been asleep for twenty four hours now" she finished looking at her watch.

"Twenty four hours? No wonder I'm feeling like a mummy... So what happened when I was sleeping?

"Well, Tyler got away…" Bonnie started.

Caroline jerked her head up her eyebrows creased.

I should have called him, I should have tried to explain… It's over now, he's going to kill me" she said simply. Her two best friends could tell she was scared, but she was trying hard to hide it behind a brave exterior.

"You'll be okay Caroline. Bonnie has put a protection spell around the house and nobody can get into the parameter that was set up and..." Elena looked at her witch friend before she added, "we're sure they can't attack the house either. You're going to be safe."

"They? Whose they."

"Kol and Rebekah. Klaus had neutralized them before coming to your help last night, but they had external help and got away with the hunter's sword... We think Matt might have something to do with it, he could have been the one undaggering them... We don't know where they are, but Stefan is tracking them down. He's going to let us know as soon as he finds them" Bonnie explained.

"In the meantime Klaus is your private bodyguard in case they find a way around Bonnie's spell. If you ask me, you don't need to worry about them, okay? It's just a security precaution..."

"Shane said I'd be able to hold the barriers for a few days when I spoke with him last night" Bonnie said. "I also think Klaus is being overprotective if you ask me, even a bit creepy" she laughed. "Just, don't worry Caroline, everybody is on the lookout for you."

Caroline was grateful for her friends' help, but how could they expect her to keep her calm when everyone around her was in the same degree of danger as she was.

"So Rebekah and Kol got the sword from Klaus, and they've got Matt under compulsion… How about Jeremy, is he back in town? Isn't he in great danger with those two psychopaths on the run?" Caroline asked, suddenly worried about the young hunter's safety. Now that they knew Rebekah and Kol had their minds on a plan of their own concerning the cure, nobody was safe especially Elena's brother. In addition, according to her friends, they still had no news from Matt. Caroline knew that Rebekah would not hurt the young man, but she hoped the youngest Original would keep her rebellious brother Kol in line as well.

"I called Damon, he's keeping Jer safe, and Stefan will bring Matt back as soon as he finds Rebekah and Kol' location, and he's on a good trail. You don't need to worry about everybody right now, okay? Please, you only have to think about yourself and let us worry about the rest, at least until you get better. Believe me, I know it's not a simple task we're asking of you, but we want to give you this one night away from all the drama Can you promise you`ll at least try that and enjoy your time tonight?" Elena said.

"Enjoy my night? Does that have something to do with this surprise you were talking about earlier?" Caroline asked.

"I thought you'd never ask!" Bonnie smiled and went to Caroline's closet where she took out the blond vampire's Prom dress from its hanger.

"My dress" Caroline said, tears forming in her eyes.

She was sad at the thought she would never be able to wear it again, as it was torn and bloody the last time she had a glimpse at it.

Bonnie brought it to Caroline's bed and spread it on her sheets.

To the young vampire's surprise, it looked brand new!

"How is this possible?"

'Nothing a little bit of magic can't repair" Bonnie smiled and winked at her friend.

* * *

Caroline looked at her reflection in the mirror.

Bonnie and Elena had worked wonderfully on her make-up and hair. She could still see some bruises on her arm where Tyler had bit her, the vervain in her system keeping it from healing completely.

"We're gonna leave now. If you need anything you call me, okay?" Elena said giving Caroline a bone crushing hug. The girls smiled at each other before Bonnie and Elena left her bedroom, closing the door behind them.

She listened as the girls got down the stairs, making their way to the lobby.

She'll be down soon she heard Bonnie say before the front door opened and closed.

Feeling extremely nervous, she took a deep breath trying to calm herself down, and slowly went for her door. She made her way to the top of the staircase, cautious not to step on the rim of her magically repaired dress. She took down the stairs one by one, keeping herself steady with the railing since her legs were still too shaky. Getting closer to the lobby, her nervousness amplified until she saw him. His dazzling smile, with the cutest dimples showing, his blue eyes bright and alert.

As she took in his allure, looking handsome in a black Armani suit, she couldn't help but think the word perfection suited him like a charm.

She made her way to him smiling shyly.

"Caroline…" he said his eyes shining "you look beautiful."

"Thank you" she said.

Caroline was a confident young woman, and she knew she looked good. She no longer felt the need to compete with Elena ever since she became a vampire.

She still enjoyed getting compliments from men of course, yet something in Klaus' way of praising her beauty always used to make her recoil, reminding her of a spider spinning its net, trying to lure the pray into its trap. Now, she somehow knew he meant every eulogy he gave her, and she was now willing to accept them. Although it surprised her that of all the creatures he came across in his thousands of years of life, he could fancy a typical small town girl-next-door like her.

"Here" he said handing her a small box she didn't realize he'd been holding.

"What's that?" she asked, concerned.

"Don't worry, love, I remembered your last warning" he said teasingly.

Intrigued, she took out the box's cover, and was amazed when she saw the gorgeous red roses' corsage that it enclosed, enlaced with vines and black see-through ribbons. It was simply gorgeous. She had never seen such a piece of art in her life.

"It's beautiful" she whispered, her breath caught up in her throat.

Klaus smiled and took her right wrist into one of his hands.

"May I?" he said detaching the corsage from the box and holding it between them.

She nodded, and he carefully laced it on her wrist, caressing her skin lightly in the process. His touch sent electric sparks up her arm. She swallowed hard and looked away, feeling her cheeks on fire.

Klaus smiled before he stepped to her side, offering her his arm.

Caroline looked up at him hesitantly. "Why are you doing this?" she asked puzzled by his motives.

He looked back at her, frowning. Couldn't she see how much he cared about her?

"You once told me that, I was alone because I didn't try to understand the people around me… and you were right. You opened my eyes that night, love. _This,_ this is me trying, Caroline."

She was taken back to the very moment they had had that discussion, when, at Esther's organized ball for the so-called celebration of their family's reunion, the two of them had ended the evening in Klaus' study. She had been sure he had been close to ripping her heart off her chest after she had told him the plain, unvarnished truth, as he had seemed pretty unhappy with her at that moment. Yet in the end, to her surprise, he had sent her a drawn picture of her with a note, thanking her for her honesty.

She had to admit she had noticed his attempts at learning more about her in the past few months, yet she was curious to know how he had come to the conclusion that she would appreciate recreating her Prom night now.

"I know your humanity is important to you, love. What happened to you last night…. will never happen again. I will hunt Tyler and my siblings down and make them pay, I promise you. Apart from almost killing you (she had to understand that she couldn't still love the punk not after last night) I know they've ruined a very important experience of your human life. Although I can't give you back the last twenty four hours of your life, I want to give you a second chance at a proper Senior Prom."

Caroline was taken aback by his confession and was touched by such consideration. And although she did not want him to hurt Tyler, although the young hybrid did nothing to deserve Klaus' mercy, she didn't want to on edge her whole life, always looking over her shoulder for any sign of a possible attack. Because Klaus was right to say she had almost died at her ex-boyfriend's hand last night and she knew Tyler would not settle just for a scare, if he was out for blood he would come for her and finish the job.

She linked her arm with his and they made their way into her living room.

The room had been decorated just like she remembered the school had been, white and silver balloons were either floating on the ceiling or scattered around on the floor, and the ceiling was also decorated with grey and white ribbons. The lights were dimmed, giving a very romantic feel, Caroline noticed, and most of the furniture had been moved elsewhere, giving them enough space to dance around the room.

The only thing missing was… music.

"It looks great, but… there's no music?" she asked bemused.

Klaus smiled and released her arm, making his way to the sound system sitting on the only furniture left in the corner of the room.

"Throughout my research on your life story" Klaus began and she started to dread what was coming next, "I've learned that you have a magnificent voice and I'm just dying to hear it. And I thought this would be a great opportunity."

"What!? No. I'm not singing… this is too embarrassing!" she said her face turning red but holding her ground.

"Come on, Caroline" he said smirking. "Humor me."

She looked back at him and pondered whether she should run away or slap the smirk off his face. "Why are you doing this?" she asked.

"I told you …"

"No she stopped him. I mean why are you asking me to sing?"

"What? Are you telling me I've been misled and your voice actually sounds like a cat being strangled?"

"What? No it certainly does not!" she exclaimed, insulted.

"So what's the problem then, love?" he asked, eyebrows raised, giving her his most innocent smile, which didn't fool her. He got her exactly where he intended her to be, and she knew she fell into his trap way too easily.

"It's just… so private here…" she said. With her friends gone and her mom off working at the station for the night, she suddenly felt nervous again.

"I know, from what I heard you're used to either sing in front of an audience at the Pageants, or receive kisses after a performance at the Grill, but don't worry, that part I can do if that's what you want…"

"Don't be a smart ass" she said laughing nervously. Would that be something she'd like? Was he paving the way to the kiss discussion ? _She_ certainly was not ready for it yet.

"Okay fine, one song. she finally accepted. After that you put on whatever music you have in there" she said pointing at the system. "… probably something from your old days… like lute or something" she finished under her breath.

Klaus laughed out loud but didn't answer, proud to have won this little battle. He was actually curious to hear her out. In the thousands of years he'd been on this earth, he'd heard numbers of singers trying to charm him and get his attention, but somehow he had a feeling that Caroline Forbes' voice would outshine them all.

Caroline thought hard of some song she could sing that wouldn't show how torn she felt inside. She needed to find a song with lyrics that expressed her current feelings, the ones she'd been keeping for herself.

She looked up at Klaus, and the moment their eyes met she recognized his attempts at putting up the wall behind which he hid his vulnerability. Or more specifically, the sadness he often tried to hide from her but which he never managed to completely eradicate from his features. And in that moment she knew what she was going to sing.

She moved closer to him and, her face determined, placed one hand on his shoulder and held her other in midair waiting for him to take the lead.

Klaus half smiled before taking it in his, placing his other hand on her delicate waist. That red dress was like a second skin on her. It was tight and fitted her perfectly. He took a deep breath and waited for her to start her performance, feeling like a kid waiting to receive a well-deserved candy.

Caroline closed her eyes and dug inside her very soul for the courage she felt she didn't have, before opening her eyes and locking her gaze with his. Klaus started swaying as soon as she started on the first notes.

_You-ou with the sad eyes  
Don't be discouraged  
Oh I realize  
it's hard to take courage  
In a world full of people  
You can lose sight of it all  
And the darkness inside you  
Can make you feel so small_

_But I see your true colors_  
_Shining through_  
_I see your true colors_  
_And that's why I lo..._

She stopped abruptly, suddenly realizing what she was saying. She wasn't ready to talk about their first kiss and she was certainly not ready to utter words to him such as "I love you" even if it would only be meant in a friendly way. That second where their eyes had locked and their bodies had moved in harmony inching closer as they danced, she doubted Klaus would have taken the L word lightly. Hell, she doubted she would have herself!

Yet this particular song had come to her instinctively the moment she had looked in his eyes and she realized it definitely expressed her true feelings towards the Original Hybrid. She indeed saw him in a different way than the others did, maybe even differently than he did himself. Her friends now accepted to be on friendly basis with him, but Caroline were no fool, she knew they didn't trust him and didn't think he could be one of the good guys. No matter what, he wouldn't get the same treatment as Damon did, even if their actions and intentions weren't that different.

Embarrassed at the way she ended her singing, she faked a cough "I'm sorry, I'm gonna go get myself some water, my throat is so dry" she said, quickly heading for the kitchen.

Klaus looked at her retreating figure, amused.

Well, that was interesting. Did she really mean those words to him? Was she telling him she was seeing through his darkness and through his armour, and finding something positive underneath?

In a way, he felt the same way about her. He was sure he saw her in a different light then her friends or that bastard Lockwood did. They never seemed to give her the importance she deserved. She always seemed to be left out of their plans, except when they could use her to their advantages, and never cared if she got hurt in the process. They didn't see her inner strength as he did. They didn't see her dreams and needs for adventure. They didn't realize, the way he had long ago, how Caroline, if given the choice, would never give away her vampire nature. He knew she was not interested in taking the cure.

And yet last night her friends had been chatting about how their lives would all be better once they took it together in some sickly cute bonding moment, assuming the blond girl sleeping in the room next to theirs, saw that alternative in the same light as they did.

Satisfied with the turn of events so far, he moved to the sound system and turned it on.

* * *

Caroline took a sip of water trying to clear up her mind. She was shaking and exhausted but not ready to call it a night; she actually was looking forward for the next hours.

She put her glass down, the moment she heard music coming from the room she had just left, quickly realizing the song was coming from her ipod's favourite playlist she made her way back to the living room, smiling widely.

Klaus had his back to her but nonetheless spoke the moment she entered the room.

"I thought you'd like this song" he said turning around and holding his hand out for her to take "Especially since it is part of your _"__love, love, love" _playlist."

His smile was contagious and she grinned back at him before she took his hand and they started dancing again.

"So this was a way to lure me back?"

"Let's just say I hoped you weren't going to call it quits after just one dance, which was interrupted by a very unfortunate coughing fit, may I add."

He raised one eyebrow at her, suggesting he knew perfectly well it had been staged. "But I must say, my sources were right."

She looked back at him quizzically, their noses an inch apart.

"About what?" she felt like her brain was wrapped in a thick cloud and it was unable to function properly.

"Your voice" he said. "You sing like an angel, love".

She scoffed.

"And what, you're gonna tell me you've never heard such a melodious voice in your thousands of years of life…" she said rolling her eyes, mocking him but still smiling.

"Would you believe me if I did?" he said flirtatiously.

"No" she laughed.

They both beamed at each other before Caroline broke the eye contact again, unable to hold his fiery gaze without getting herself in what she knew would become a complicated situation.

Her body screaming at her to stop beating around the bush, and just jump him already.

* * *

A few yards away from the Forbes' house, a figure lurked between trees, spying at the dancing couple inside the house. He couldn't get closer than where he was but he knew he had seen enough.

A deep growling sound escaped Tyler's lips as he left the neighbourhood, running at hybrid speed.

* * *

Klaus brushed Caroline's hand with his thumb, nervous at what he was going to ask her.

"Caroline, a few weeks ago you told me you enjoyed me…"

She stopped in motion and looked up at him, doe-eyed.

Although he noticed her fright, he kept on pressing, not willing to let her get away without an answer.

"Would you care to elaborate on that, love?"

She immediately dropped her gaze, embarrassed.  
"I need a drink" she said trying to find a distraction.

"I've got that covered, sweetheart" Klaus said going over to the kitchen and walking back with a bottle of champagne and an ice bucket she hadn't noticed, but which he had probably set aside earlier.

"Where did you get that? I know my mom does not keep champagne around the house."

"Let's just say I had a little help from one of your friends. And after all, I couldn't let the opportunity fly by, since, even if you do not want to admit it, this is starting to become our thing. It has its precedents after all" he said smiling playfully.

She smiled back, anxious. She knew he wouldn't drop the ball so easily.

Klaus popped the bottle open, and her mind drifted to the thought that her mother would give her a lecture on "underage" drinking with a man under her roof the next day. Yet this was the least of her worries at the moment.

"So your enjoyment of me, love?" he insisted again, pouring the crystalline liquid in a flute he handed her, before serving himself a glass as well. He put the bottle back in the ice bucket he had set on the table next to them and, taking a gulp from his own flute, he patiently waited for her answer.

"Seriously!? Why do you want to torture me like this?"

Klaus joined her side and moved closer to her, his eyes serious and all traces of playfulness gone.

"Because I have tortured myself over the last few weeks trying to understand what it is you feel for me, Caroline. While I was under the impression I had been played for a fool by you and your friends again, it turned out you were not playing an act...at least not the way I thought you were."

Caroline looked at him with a scared expression. She was afraid to tell him how it had been for her to be around him lately... Always torn between two _very_ distinctive feelings and needs. She took the plunge anyway, knowing full well he would harass her should he not get an honest response from her.

"When I told you that I _enjoyed_ you, I meant it." Now that she started talking she realized she needed to get it out, and the look he was giving her confirmed he wouldn't let her bail on him anyway. "I like being around you, I like the way you let your humanity show when you're with me" she finished, looking down.

Klaus braced himself, because he knew full well there was a "but" coming.

He put a finger under her chin, lifting her head up so she would face him again.

"But...?" he encouraged her. He needed to know. Even if it would anger him, he needed to know what was going on in her pretty head.

"But... But then you go about and kill or torture innocent people. Out of frustration, out of revenge, out of sport, whatever the reasons, and it's wrong. And I can't agree with that kind of behaviour."

It was Klaus' turn to look away, staring at the wall behind her.

"Why would you say that you enjoy me then..." he asked returning his gaze at her.

"I don't know... I ... I find that every now and then, my brain and my... my heart fight over my emotions. Sometimes I want to hate you, but all I hand up with is a desperate need to be near you."

Klaus looked at her intently, an internal turmoil apparent in his intense blue eyes.

"I find that, when I'm around you... I feel safe. You saved me again last night... Thank you" she continued.

Her eyes were shining and she was blushing slightly because she again remembered the kiss they exchanged, just a few hours ago.

Klaus just stood there motionless, no matter how much he wanted to kiss her, he forced himself to resist. He would let her make that move next, once she figured out her true feelings for him.

He gave her a genuine smile. "Always, I'll always be there for you, love."

The intensity of his words caught Caroline off guard and she almost started crying.

He laid out his hand for her to take, "Now, how about we resume our dancing?"

* * *

After two hours of dancing, Caroline was so tired, she almost collapsed in Klaus' arms as he escorted her back to her room, where she took her pyjamas and headed for the next door's bathroom. Klaus stayed behind in her room and resumed his place next to the window.

He heard her start the shower and, taking his jacket and shirt off, he turned his mind off before he started fantasizing about joining her in there. He did not know if he could be strong enough to resist his emotional urges tonight, not after all they had discussed earlier.

Caroline came back to her room and headed directly for her bed. She tossed the pillows around making herself a nice little nest to cuddle into, and only then realized Klaus' presence. He was looking at her, amused by her actions. Only then did she notice his bare chest, as he leaned nonchalantly against the window sill.

"What are you doing there?" she asked troubled by his presence in her private cocoon.

"I'm on guard duty, love, remember?"

"I know that, but what for? I thought Bonnie's spell prevented anyone to come near the house. You don't need to stay here Klaus, I'm sure you have plenty of things to do..." _Like prepare a revenge plan no doubt,_ she finished in her head. Her old self would have thrown it in his face, emphasizing on his bad behaviours, but now she did not want to tick him off. He had been so nice to her tonight; she would not ruin it all.

"There is nowhere else I'd rather be" Klaus' response came, bringing her back in the moment. "Anyway, my sister and brother know very powerful witches that could easily break through Bonnie's shield. You're safer with me in here."

He saw Caroline's features change to horror, and he cursed himself for scaring her. He quickly moved to her side and taking hold of her arms with his hands, he sat her down on her bed before joining her.

"You know you are safe with me Caroline" he said, his face close to hers. "Go to sleep now love, nothing will happen to you, I swear it on my life. Tomorrow you'll be back to your normal self and we will plan our next moves, together."

She looked back at him her eyes fluttering between his eyes and lips entranced by his scent.

Klaus suddenly stepped away and quickly moved back to his spot next to the window.

Caroline felt herself flush and pulled her covers over her shaking body as she lay down on her pillows.

She tried to go to sleep but her mind kept being pulled back to the man sitting a few feet away from her. After a few minutes of tossing and turning she gave up, opened her bedside lamp and got up on one of her elbows.

"Why do you have to sit there?" she asked him.

Klaus turned to look at her and was hit again by her remarkable and natural beauty.

"To have a better look at the grounds outside" he simply answered. "I told you I'm not letting you out of my sight...Why aren't you sleeping?"

"I can't sleep... It must be uncomfortable to sit over there for hours."

"I'm a thousand years old vampire Caroline. I've seen and been in worst situations."

"Still..." she bit her lower lip before adding "I can make some place next to me..."

Klaus' face went blank, not showing how those simple words troubled him deeply. Sleeping next to her? That would be playing with fire.

"I don't think your mother would approve, love."

"She's off at the station for the night, she won't know. Speaking of which, I heard there have been a few people missing since last night, they're out searching the forest day and night. Do you think Rebekah and Kol are behind this?"

Klaus looked outside the window again.

"It is possible. But you don't have to worry about them Caroline. Please you need some rest now."

"I'd feel better knowing you were closer next to me."

Klaus stared back at her and after a few seconds he got up from his seat and walked slowly towards her, giving her plenty of time to change her mind. But she did not and simply pushed the pillows aside so he would be comfortable. He took out his shoes and lay down next to her, making sure he was not touching her skin.

He was afraid she'd asked for his closeness only because he'd made her feel vulnerable and scared, and not because she wanted him, period.

She smiled brightly at him, turned on her side and turned off her light again.

"Thank you" she whispered.

He pulled the covers up to her chin and before he could pull his hand back, she grasped it and held on to it tightly.

"I need you ..."

"I'm not going anywhere Caroline" he said. She was clutching his hand in an angle that obliged him to crawl closer to her burning body. Did she have a fever? He realized she did not flinch away from his proximity and instead cuddled closer to him, grabbing his arm to her heart and intertwined her fingers with his.

"I'll keep you safe" Klaus added, his voice hoarse. Although he was no stranger to sharing a woman's bed, having had his fair share of mistresses in the past, actually sleeping with a woman, and one that he truly had feelings for, was a whole different story.

"I know..." She truly did she trusted him completely and she was grateful for what he had done for her tonight.

The two of them fell asleep quickly, finally feeling complete in each other's arms, in a way they hadn't felt in a long time. Klaus' last thoughts before he dozed off was of the new belonging feeling he had in his chest, and of how much he wished he could hold on to it.

* * *

A phone ring pierced through the silence of the night, waking up the couple instantly.

Suddenly aware that she was sprawled across his bare chest, Caroline jerked away and sat up quickly rummaging through the stuff on her bedside table, trying to hide her discomfort in the action. She finally found her cellphone, which had been hiding under her diary, and answered the call before it went to her voicemail.

Klaus slowly sat up and crossed his arms, patiently waiting to know what was going on that justified a call this late at night. He looked at Caroline's back, wishing he could touch her, tracing his fingers from her neck, all the way down her spine. How he was looking forward to feel her shiver in his arms from the pleasure he would inflict her should she ever surrender to his advances.

"Hello?"

"Caroline!" Bonnie's panicked voice came from the receiver.

"_Calm down Bonnie" _Caroline heard Elena's soothing voice coming in the background.

"What's wrong?" Caroline asked. She turned to face Klaus, who looked as puzzled as she was, except she knew he didn't worry about her friends' safety like she did.

"They've got him Caroline!" Bonnie cried out. "They're going to kill him!"

"Who? Who's got who, Bonnie?" Caroline asked completely awake and panicked now.

Klaus put a hand on her bare knee trying to calm her with the gesture. He did not appreciate her friends calling her and ruining what should have been her night off the drama. They had agreed to his plan and had been enthusiastic about it, the witch especially had been happy to display her powers for her friend's sake. Caroline had been through enough in the past forty-eight hours she did not need more drama. He didn't care what was going on right now, it could wait, _He_ would make it wait.

"It's Rebekah and Kol!"

Klaus' head snapped up, his attention now completely caught in the conversation the girls were having.

"What have they done?" he asked looking at the phone.

"They took Shane!" Bonnie cried out.

* * *

**A/N: So what did you guys think? I had such a hard time trying to find a good song for Caroline...**

**Comment please! Next chapter I plan on bringing back Damon and Jeremy to Mystic Falls. I bring characters in whenever they are in interaction or in proximity of either Klaus or Caroline, which is why you do not know more or less than those two characters do.**

**P.-S. I do not own the song's rights or TVD either.**


	12. Chapter 12 - The Plan

**Note: Hi everyone, hope you'll like the end result!**

**Please leave comments I read and reread them all :-)**

* * *

"I'm coming Bonnie! Calm down, we're gonna figure this out together" Caroline said before hanging up on her friend's cries for help.

"Shit" she blurted out. She turned away from Klaus, and jumped out of bed before she went for her commode.

She was tired of all the problems; couldn't they have a break from it for once? Weren't they entitled to some happiness by now? She really was exhausted of all the drama and she wished she could just get away from it all, but she couldn't, she couldn't leave her friends alone to deal with these cans of worms.

Pulling on the first drawer she took out a black t-shirt and rummaged through the next drawer taking out socks and a black lace bra. When she realized Klaus was still studying her every moves, she hid it between the folded layers of her t-shit.

Klaus smiled, amused at her troubled expression. He couldn't help imaging her just wearing that black lace bra and matching panties He clearly remembered the day he had saved her from the Council members, would it have not been for his need to be honest and his refusal to be deceitful towards Caroline, he would have had a taste of what she had qualified as hot hybrid-vampire sex. That thought still haunted him at nights. Yet although he undeniably regretted not taking advantage of the situation he was somewhat glad he hadn't because he wanted the feel of his own fingers on her bare skin and certainly not Tyler's. He could still see the sun reflecting on her creamy skin as she launched herself on him, her mouth all over his… no Tyler's, he growled internally.

As Klaus was deeply absorbed in his mind, Caroline, her face red, flashed to her wardrobe and took out a pair of jeans from a hanger. Regretfully for her, before she could discretely leave the room, Klaus got to her and holding her arms firmly he made her face him, his own features serious.

"Let go" Caroline cried out, frowning at him.

Klaus released some pressure on his grip but didn't let go like she asked.

"Whoa! Slow down Caroline" he said. "Why don't you explain to me what the big rush is?"

"I need to go and help my friends, Klaus" she said.

"That I understand, your need to help and protect those you care about is undeniable" he started. He didn't quite get what the urgency was, or who Shane was and why he was so important to the Scooby gang. "What I don't, though, is why you feel the need to run out in the middle of the night, when you have at least three people out there, a lot stronger than you may I add, that are just waiting for you to put so much as a toe outside the protective spell's boundaries to put a stake through your heart."

"You wouldn't understand…" she said. She wasn't being fair to him, she knew, but she didn't know how to explain to him what she felt deep inside.

"You'd be surprised of my comprehensive abilities" Klaus bluntly replied, his face serious. "Why don't you start by telling me who that Shane character is?"

Horror crossed Caroline's face, as she suddenly understood that that information had been yet another piece of knowledge they had concealed from the Hybrid. If she wanted to be true to her word to Klaus and not hide anything from him anymore, she needed to confess one of the biggest secrets they had kept from him so far.

He felt her muscles relax under his loosened grasp, and saw her features change as she started "Okay, don't get mad…"

Oh, that was never good… he thought.

"… but my friends and I have kept a few things from you in the past few months" she started.

This wasn't news to him. He bit back the remarks that came to his mind. No matter how hard he had tried to earn their trust, or at least Caroline and Stefan's, it turned out that all his attempts had failed. However he fooled himself in thinking he had finally got through to them, he was always reminded he was nothing more than the Big Bad Wolf not worthy of their confidence.

"Go on…" he simply said, encouraging her to pursue with her line of thoughts.

"Shane is our History teacher" she started again. Gosh couldn't she just get it out already she thought to herself.

"And, he's been teaching Bonnie magic and… most importantly, he knows the location of the Cure" she finished.

Suddenly realizing what impacts the teacher`s abduction meant for their quest to get to the Cure, anger started boiling inside of him.

"Are you saying that the sword I've been keeping aside, thinking it would be the key to unlocking the Hunter's tattoo and bring us closer to the Cure and you have all led me to think this when all the while it was nothing more than a mere toy, an accessory which you used to knowingly hide its true unworthiness from me. And on top of that, you have actually been aware of the Cure`s wereabouts all this time?" Rage rose up inside him and he suppressed the urges to break the furniture around them. Here they were again, Caroline and her friends, playing him for a fool while he was trying to give them proof of his goodwill. His grip unvoluntarily hardened on Caroline's arm and she winced at the sudden pain.

"No!" Caroline denied. "We don't know where it is but Shane does. He didn't tell us because he knew Damon would kill him once he got the information, it was his leverage to remain alive. Which is precisely why we haven't told you either" she said pointing an accusing finger at him. "You and Damon have similar instincts when it comes to getting rid of the people that annoy you or ones you simply dislike. We didn't want to risk either of you to kill the only person that keeps Bonnie under control and grounded. They have a special bonding relationship because he helped her get her Powers back which served to regain her confidence. We have gone through so much, we've left our childhoods' hopes and dreams behind because we had to grow up after everything and everyone we've lost in the past year, seeing her so happy again made us like the guy almost instantly."

Caroline's eyes started swelling with tears as she continued.

"But for Bonnie, to lose yet another person, and one that actually can save her from herself, would be too much for her to bare. I don't want to see my friend lose herself and this is why I need to get to her fast so we can work up a plan to save Shane and get her mind occupied. If we save Shane, we save Bonnie, and we save this town from being destroyed or burnt down to the ground by a magical outburst. So there you are, this is why time is so critical here, so can you please let go, you're hurting me."

Klaus instantly let go of her and she raced to the washroom where she closed and locked the door and started to quickly undress. She knew his concern for her was legitimate, that it was dangerous for her to leave her house, yet she already felt better, she was able to run at vampire speed without feeling exhausted and her muscles had regained their tone and strength.

Plus, she wasn't going to sit around and wait for god knows how long, just to be a hundred percent sure she was back at full strength. Her friends needed her and she would do anything for them.

Although a part of her brain was busy thinking about some plan to save both Matt and Shane, the other part was completely obsessed about the night she had spent in Klaus' arms.

Had she actually begged him to share her bed last night? She had felt so vulnerable and frail and he was just so strong and protective of her.

_Okay, who am I trying to convince exactly?_ Yes she had been afraid but that alone would not have pushed her to invite him into her bed. _ You wanted him next to you,_ she thought to herself. _You find him attractive and his presence is soothing to you, admit it! _ She wanted his body next to hers, she longed for his proximity. Plus, she couldn`t let him sit by the window all night while she was comfortably sprawled in her bed, not after all he had done for her.

When she came back into her room she noticed Klaus had changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt as well. He looked deeply lost in his thoughts, staring blankly at the undone bed.

Klaus was not only frustrated at the Scooby gang for dissimulating the teacher's existence, he was mostly mad at himself for hurting Caroline just now. How could he have lost control like that and hurt the person he cared the most about? Staring at the bed, he remembered Caroline's warm body lying next to him, the smell of her soft golden locks tickling at his cheek. He looked down at his hands, still feeling her fingers squeezing his, his arm resting against her heaving chest. He had listened intently to her slow breathing just before falling into oblivion himself.

He suddenly realized Caroline was behind him as he spun around to face her. They stared at each other both uncomfortable. He walked slowly towards her trying not to look aggressive, and took her hands, bringing them to his mouth. "I am sorry for hurting you earlier" was all he said before dropping his gaze and kissing her hands trying to make it up to her somehow.

Caroline couldn't stand the sorrow she saw in his eyes before he averted her gaze. She knew he hadn't meant to hurt her, that he would never harm her on purpose. He had such a tortured soul it broke her heart to see it displayed in front of her. He was such a dreaded enemy to some, but to her he showed his sweetest sides.

She put her hands on each side of his face, feeling the roughness of his stubble on her palms. He instantly jerked his head up at her touch, and looking into his eyes she once again felt shivers going down her spine. What was it with these blue eyes that made her go weak in the knees every time she looked at him? She absentmindedly caressed his cheeks with her thumbs, completely lost in his eyes before she noticed his stunned expression at her intimate gesture and she couldn't help but felicitate herself for surprising him as it probably didn't happen that often for the thousands years old vampire.

"I know you wouldn't hurt me by choice" she said, her voice soft. "I have a proposition for you, come with me at Elena's. Be a part of this, we need you. _I _need you!" she finished.

How could he resist her when she was so close to him, when he could smell her breath on his face like a refreshing breeze? She was a sorceress… there was no other explanation. No matter how hard he told himself to keep his head clear she just had to touch him and say his name and he'd come running like a dog.

"I will be by your side tonight, I will give you whatever support you need Caroline. Always."

She smiled at him sweetly; his pledge to help and protect her went straight to her heart. "I know" she whispered, before moving closer to him, and still holding his face she approached hers to his before finally making their lips meet. The spontaneous move took Klaus off guard.

At first the exchange was timid almost hesitant, she felt like she was taking a huge step and she could no longer fool herself at thinking their new found connection was only friendship.

Klaus started taking the matter into his own hands, grabbing at the small of her back with one hand and seizing a handful of her golden locks in his other he glued her body to his. Caroline, still with one hand holding on to his cheek, slid her other hand to his waist clawing at his shirt. Completely absorbed in the moment Caroline lost all senses of her surroundings the instant his hands moved down to her bottom, lifting her off her feet. Klaus spun her around before laying her on her bed and hovered over her, never releasing her mouth as he did. Circling his hips with both her legs she inched him closer to her. Her head was spinning from the excitement of the kiss, his lips were so soft in contrast with his facial hair that was roughly scraping her chin, but she welcomed the feeling as it confirmed the reality of the exchange. All her head was able to process now was Klaus, his lips, his scent, his warmth, his entire body and her own, burning with an internal fire that was blazing in her belly.

Wait this brought something forward in her mind… Think Caroline, it has something to do with fire… Burning…

Suddenly an image of Bonnie, the tip of her black hair smoldering from the fire surrounding her, her hands playing with the flames, her eyes all black, a sadistic smile on her lips, her arms extended in front of her, ready to throw snakes of flames at her.

Caroline snapped out of the trance she was in, and swiftly moved out of under Klaus, pushing him slightly as she squirmed to get out of bed. Feeling her resentment Klaus let her go reluctantly, grunting.

They both stared at each other, passion and desire reflected in both their eyes. Panting as if they had lost their personal access to oxygen - which they didn't really need - Klaus stood up looking at her with concern, did she regret what had just happened?

"We need to go" Caroline reminded him, not trying to avoid his gaze, but facing him with dignity. "Bonnie…"

Klaus moved closer to her, gently brushing her cheek, he murmured "No, we _have_ to go Caroline, as right now my_ needs,_ and yours I believe, are in a whole different world." He smiled teasingly at her.

She smiled back looking down as she did, before he lifted her chin up and moved forward again.

"Don't" she said looking away "please. It's not that I don't want to." She looked back at him smiling reassuringly. "I do, believe me, but I had a hard time putting a stop to it the first time so I know if we start again I won't want it to stop and we have big problems on our hands right now."

"Then I will take a rain check on it, love."

* * *

They took Caroline's car to Elena's place, as Klaus' SUV was still at his house since he had ran to the Forbes house two nights ago. They kept quiet throughout the car ride both lost in their thoughts.

That kiss had been surreal, she certainly hadn`t planned it, at first she had just wanted to reassure him and then that pull that had been nagging at her for weeks now, had taken over her mind and had pushed away her resistance finally bringing down the walls. She was still terribly aware of his proximity in her small Ford Fiesta. Their elbows were brushing against one another and the heat coming from his body was slowly taking over hers. She had to stay concentrated on the road ahead but she knew from the corner of her eyes that he was staring at her with an indeceferable expression. She blushed lightly and smiled despite her best resolution.

Klaus looked at her profile as they made their way to the Gilberts' house. Caroline went through a red light going over the speedlimit, knowing the sheriff`s officers would all be too busy trying to find the town's missing people, rather than running after their boss`daughter. He knew her friends' situation was disturbing her, yet he couldn`t help but boast at the thought she was overwelmed by his presence next to her. He couldn`t believe she had finally taken the lead in kissing him and she hadn`t fallen back because she regretted her move, but because her friends were in need. He was sure that without that, he would have made the most of his time alone with her, until Liz got back home. He would have easily made her forget about Tyler. One night in his arms and the cub would have been nothing more then a bad memory.

When he noticed her smile he couldn't help but grin. He would get through to her resistance and bring down her ramparts. She would soon realize they were meant for one another. She would realize that the affection she thought she had for Tyler was nothing more than puppy love.

As she parked into Elena's drive way and they both got out of the car, Klaus flashed in front of her holding both her arms and locking his gaze with hers.

"Will you let me assist you?" he asked his voice grave. "Will you trust me enough for this task?" He felt he needed to make amend for his earlier outburst. He knew he needed to be part of the trusted circle of the Scooby Gang if he wanted to know what was going on in this town, as it all seemed to affect him in the end weither he didn`t want anything to do with it or not. He knew it would take them some time to trust him completely but he figured being next to Caroline, one of their own at the discussion table wouldn't hurt.

"If you promise to behave" she said half-jokingly.

"For you, love, I promise" he said with a crooked smile. He offered her his arm before they made their way to the front porch.

Caroline was about to knock when the door suddenly flew opened before them. Bonnie stood there looking past them her eyes lost in the distance.

"Bonnie, it's okay I'm here now" Carolinee said stepping inside the house and hugging her friend. She felt bad for arriving this late, at least 40 minutes had passed since her friend had called her in panic, she should have been there at least 30 minutes ago, if it hadn`t been for the passionate moment she had had in her bedroom with a certain Hybrid.

Bonnie relaxed in her friend's arms knowing they'd somehow find a way to fix everything. They started to make their way to the kitchen when they heard Klaus clear his throat behind them.

Elena came to join her friends as they all looked at the Original standing in the doorframe, arms extended on the doorframe, unable to go further. He looked at them meaningfully waiting for the doppelganger to invite him in.

Caroline turned to look at her friend, shrugging "He wants to help" she simply said, smiling encouragingly.

Elena was not sure it was such a good idea to invite Klaus inside her house but what other choice did they have, Klaus was their strongest ally against their enemies… funny how she kept him aside from the list of villains now.

"Come on in" she said, hoping she wouldn't regret her decision later on.

* * *

Bonnie was pacing around the dining room muttering under her breath.

"Bonnie, please come and sit with us" Caroline pleaded with her friend. She was desperate to get the young witch in a more serene state. If Bonnie lost control, they would all be doomed. The extent of her Powers went beyond what they used to be and she used to be pretty powerful before, especially against vampires, Caroline did not want to think what an outburst coming from_ Expression_ would be like.

"She's right Bon, let's work on this plan together" Elena said.

"Yes witch, do calm down" Klaus interviened. "Going blindly against my siblings would only result in the death of your friends and that nice professor you respect so much. You would then be left with nothing but hatred and the bodies of the ones you once loved dearly." Caroline saw the ghost of a shadow cross the Hybrid's features as he spoke.

"You told him about Shane?" Bonnie yelled out, frustrated with Caroline. Her friend had blindly signed her mentor's death certificate. Having to stop Damon from killing their History professor was one thing, but putting Klaus on top of the picture made it just that more complicated.

"I had to Bonnie, okay? He'd on our side…"

They all heard the front door open and Jeremy and Damon made there way into the dining room, joining the group.

"Jer!" Elena cried out, hugging her brother with fierce. She then jumped into Damon's arms, kissing him hard on the lips, she draw back smiling brightly.

"You brought him back, thank you!"

Klaus got up from his chair making his way to the couple, looking unpleased.

"Yes thank you Damon for endangering the life of our now only real resource left in this Cure hunt for team Delena."

"Resource?" Jeremy asked, insulted.

Damon turned his gaze from Elena, glaring at the Original.

"And when were you invited to the party?"

Klaus smiled wickidly, happy to see the younger vampire's annoyed expression.

"Why don't you ask your girlfriend here, it's her house after all."

"Boys!" Caroline warned them quickly glancing at Bonnie. "Please. Elena, it is a bit risky to bring Jeremy back when Rebekah and Kol are indeniably out for the Cure. Wouldn't it have been better to hide him somewhere else outside of Mystic Falls?"

"I know Care. I just couldn't let him out there without being able to protect him…"

"Protect him? Against two Original Vampires that have eaten their lot of humans and vampires alike, centuries before your great great grand mother was borned?" Klaus intervened.

"Well we don't expect you to understand family values knowing how you prefer to keep your siblings staked in coffins most of the time, dragging them around wherever you're going…" Damon nastily spat at him.

Klaus lost his cocky smile and advanced on the oldest Salvatore brother You're one to talk stealing his girlfriend from him...

Sensing the level of tension peeking, Caroline stepped in, grabbing Klaus' arm and she saw Elena place herself in front of Damon shielding his body from the Hybrid.

"Enough you two! Klaus you said you'd behave…"

He looked at her with the face of a child being caught with his hand in a bag.

"Listen to her Klaus…" Damon pitched in.

"And you" Caroline said pointing a finger at Damon, "stop trying to push him to his limit, we're here to help find Shane and bring him back safely from Rebekah and Kol, not for you two to show your macho man attitudes."

"Professor Shady Pants' disapearance is a real shame but if you ask me I never thrusted the guy, I'm sure he doesn't know where the Cure really is he just wanted us to believe he did to save his sorry ass."

"No" Bonnie stepped in her eyes blazing. "Shane told the thruth, we need to help him, like he helped me. We have to save him before they torture him to his death" she pleaded.

"And we will" Jeremy said taking her hands in his, trying to channel positive energy through his touch.

"And how exactly do you plan to? Barge into Barbie and Psychotic Klaus' hideout? We don't even know where they are and if I'm not mistaken we haven't heard from my dear brother yet to find out where they are. Don't get me wrong it's nice to not get the silent treatment on purpose from him, thanks to you, kindly sending him out to fetch your little shinny medieval toy. So bottom line is, we're as blind as bats right now."

Klaus' phone started ringing and he took it noticing Stefan's name appear on the caller ID.

"Just on time, we were starting to worry about you mate."

"Hello brother, how nice of you to send me Stefan to play with."

"Rebekah…"


	13. Chapter 13 - Trusting the Ennemy

**A/N: Hi guys, sorry for the delay in updating this chapter, I find I'm less inspired at writing this fanfic but will do my best to update it sooner the next time. I know how I want the next chapters to go and I think you'll like what's coming up. **

**Thank you all for your comments, love you all very much!**

* * *

"Rebekah..." Klaus started. "Now don't do anything regrettable, love."

The growl that came out at the end of his warning did not escape his sister's ears and she chuckled at his frustration.

"Stop using that patronizing tone with me Nick" she spat.

"You're my baby sister, Rebekah, I'm only looking after you" he replied, turning his back to the group in front of him, shielding himself from their scrutinizing glares.

She couldn't believe that he could still foolishly think this was just an innocent quarrel that he could easily settle with words.

"You lost that right the moment you stabbed me for the nth time Niklaus. Mark my words, you are no longer my brother."

Her last uttered words cut through his unbeating heart like a sharp knife would of had. He composed his face in a stony mask, concealing the hurt he felt at his only sister's rejection.

"You are my sister Rebekah. I will always care about you..."

He heard her sobbing before the phone changed hands and Kol spoke.

"Brother, it's unbelievable how you still manage to affect her feelings, even when she has been swearing for the last weeks that she hates your guts and does not care what happens to you."

"Kol..."

If his younger brother had been in front of him right now he'd strangled him until he heard the bones in his neck crack under the pressure of his fingers.

"So a word of advice Nik, stop sending us your little soldiers because you will end up with a deceived army to boss around, yet again." With that they all heard Stefan's agonizing cries as Kol undoubtedly stabbed him with something. "Next time it will be in his heart. Take that as a warning."

Klaus heard Elena hold her breath at Stefan's exposed pain.

"Kol I swear to you..."

"Oh, and I also heard you let Tyler live. How very merciful of you. I don't recognize you Nik, your like a weaker version of your old self, very boring. It's a pity really, because you use to be so much fun."

Caroline held her breath knowing Kol was tempting his brother, she knew Klaus would not appreciate being called weak and it was her fault Tyler was still running around town.

"Kol, you will never cease to amuse me..." His brother had always been a pest, although now it wasn't done in an arrogant brotherly way, it was meant to hit hard.

"Another advice for you Nik" Kol cut him off, his tone now provocative. "I'd keep a close eye on your girlfriend from now on, things could so easily go wrong for her."

A low growl escaped Klaus' mouth as he turned to look Caroline straight in the eyes, a silent message seemed to pass between them. He would protect her at any cost and she knew it.

"Are you threatening her Kol?"

"Oh I wouldn't dream of doing such a thing and unleash your wrath on me dear brother... but you never know what terrible things awaits us in our future. Some are nearer and some further, that's the great thing about the unknown... we know nothing, it's so fascinating don't you think. So watch your back brother... and hers."

Kol hung up and Klaus stood there, staring at his phone in disbelief. His brother and sister were now openly at war against him, how did that happen? Of course he was not afraid of them, but he dreaded the fact that they were still going after Caroline now that their plan to use Tyler hadn't worked. The only thing he could do to protect Caroline would be to get rid of the menace, and the thought disturbed him deeply.

Caroline watched Klaus' tensed shoulders and she notice his struggle to remain calm. She was agitated herself after what she just heard, Stefan was in imminent danger and nothing led them to think the Mikaelsons would keep Matt or Shane alive. Plus Kol had been very clear about his intentions towards making her their next target.

"We have to find them" Elena cried out, bringing them both back to the Gilbert's dining room.

Elena was upset after the call had ended. Her heart had sank the moment she heard Stefan's howling. If he died now she'd never forgive herself for not having had the chance to properly explain herself to him.

Caroline stood up and walked to her friend's side, resting a reassuring hand on Elena's shoulder to try and calm her down. She had no time for self-pity, she knew, not when her friends lives were in jeopardy.

"For that we need to locate them" Caroline said, squeezing Elena's shoulder. She was as concerned for Matt and Stefan's safety, as her friends were. Even though she did feel bad for Shane she was on the same page as Damon on that one. She did not trust the guy and she certainly would not have jumped into a battle against two Original vampires for his sake alone, although now it seemed like she was destined to do just that, with them making it clear she was on their "to kill" list.

"Bonnie can't you do a locator spell to find where they are holding Stefan, Matt and Shane prisoner?" she asked.

"I could, I just need one of their belongings. I grabbed something from Shane's apartment but if I have something from Matt, it would reinforce the spell."

"Can't you use my blood to locate Stefan, like you once did with Jeremy's to find Elena when she was abducted by Rose and Trevor?" Damon asked, hope clear in his voice. It was time for them to move and find his brother. If Kol hurt him again he would personally rip the Original vampire's heart out. Even though he felt Elena's distress at finding Stefan, he would step down and let Stef have her if it meant his brother would be safe.

"As vampires I'm not sure that would work, when I used Jer's blood, Elena was still human. You and Stefan are dead, well technically anyway, so it wouldn't work."

"Yes well, that was when you used the pure magical powers of your ancestors that tapped into the magic of the earth" Klaus said in a bored way, leaning against the wall opposite the gang. He managed to put a façade up so they wouldn't notice the emotions boiling up inside him "but now with _Expression_, you can find whatever and whomever you want, I've seen it. Give it a try, you'll see."

Bonnie looked at him distrustfully. Was he testing her and her new abilities, knowing it wouldn't work but challenging her to do it anyway.

"Since when do you care what happens to our friends?" Jeremy asked skeptically.

"Oh don't flatter yourself young Gilbert, I don't give a hoot about what happens to Matt, but I do however have some kind of bonding with Stefan, even after he, along with all of you, betrayed me and let me to die at the hands of my hybrids not that long ago. But let bygones be bygones, I decided to forgive you all and help you in bringing this great happy family back together. So Bonnie, what's it gonna be? Are you going to try or not?"

Caroline saw Damon smirk before he started advancing on Klaus with his usual arrogant attitude.

"You know what would help us finding my dear martyr of a brother and your great shiny medieval toy, would be for you to give us a few drops of _your_ blood so we can track your brother and sister down. This way we could be sure you and your siblings are not playing any tricks on us and luring us into a trap."

Jeremy smiled at Damon for challenging Klaus, he liked that the raven haired vampire wasn't impressed by his elders and didn't crawl to the floor to please them. He didn't appreciate being in the same living space as the Original vampire and his hands were itching for him to reach for his back pocket, where his stake was hidden, and plunge it into the Hybrid's chest. He suppressed his urges and crossed his arms waiting for Klaus to answer Damon's demands.

"How very audacious of you to request that of me. After all your attempts at killing me..."

"After you tried to kill all of us as well" Damon cut him trough.

Klaus snickered. "And I should trust you" he continued as if he hadn't been interrupted, "and willingly provide traitors such as yourselves with something as valuable and as worthy as my blood?"

Damon just looked at him and nodded. "Yup" he said.

"Then you are as thick as you look."

Caroline understood Klaus' reluctance to trust her friends, after all, he was right, they had done nothing to make amend of their previous actions, but the fact was that he hadn't either. He never apologized for his past attempts against Elena, Stefan, Damon and Bonnie's lives (_and mine!_ she reminded herself). Unfortunately this was not the time to have such a discussion, time was not a luxury they could afford at the moment and they needed to concentrate their efforts into finding her friends and deliver them from their abductors. As she opened her mouth to ask him for his help she was interrupted by Damon.

"What ever happened to let bygones be bygones?" he asked smirking at Klaus.

"I don't hold grudges I only learn from my past mistakes. If my mother was still alive and so much as cared for my wellbeing she'd probably be proud."

"Klaus, please." Caroline spoke up. She walked up to him raising her arms in a submission gesture, he said he wanted to help, this was the opportunity to do so. "You trust me don't you? I swear to you that this is no trick, we need your help to rescue our friends, and ..."

"Find the Cure" Jeremy finished for her. "That is still your main preoccupation right now right, get the Cure and use it on my sister like we all want?"

Klaus glared at Jeremy, not liking the tone the young hunter was using.

"Ah yes, using the Cure, to then in turn use Elena to create a new Hybrid army..." Damon added.

Caroline's face fell, how stupid of her! She had completely forgot about Klaus' interest in the Cure. Of course he wanted it... to use on her friend to then drain her from her blood against her will.

"I can't believe how stupid I am!" she exclaimed.

"Caroline..." Klaus said. He was deeply concerned at her reaction and the thought that he'd just lost his last ally, the one he wanted by his side for always and forever, creeped up inside his head.

"I need some air, you guys figure out a plan and I'll give a hand with the realization of it."

Elena followed her to the front door and they stepped outside closing the door behind them.

Klaus turned to look at Damon, glaring.

"Well you must have loved that."

"You know what's great about this? Now if you don't want Caroline to hate you for the rest of your existence, you will not pursue your plan to use Elena to create more hybrids. You will let her live her normal human life and carry on with your own meaningless one."

"And how is that going to work out for you? The sire-bond is not broken yet, although you seem to think it is. When she becomes human again, she will no longer care for you and will run back into Stefan's arms and pledge she didn't know what she was doing with you. You will lose her. It was and will always be Stefan, not you. Your wish to sacrifice your own happiness to your brother's advantage is quite remarkable."

They both stared at one another, seizing each other out. If it wasn't for the promise he made to Caroline to behave tonight, he'd snap the arrogant vampire's neck without blinking.

* * *

Caroline was sitting on the porch staring at the night sky, spotting Sirius out of all the others out there. She was frustrated at Klaus but most of all she was furious at herself for falling for his charms without questioning her feelings further.

She could feel her best friend's presence behind her and she knew that would it have been her standing behind her, she would not have been able to hold her tongue, giving some kind of lecture on how blind she had been in trusting the enemy. She hadn't been careful like she said she would.

"I can't believe how stupid I am" she repeated. "I'm sure you would like to say you told me so..."

"No Caroline. I think your judging yourself too harshly" Elena said, sitting by her blond friend's side. "Love can make us see and believe things that others can't or won't."

Caroline scoffed at the word "love".

"I'm just a foolish, blondish, sorry excuse of a friend. I've put you in a dangerous situation tonight. Not only is Klaus still keen on using you as his personal blood bag once you're back to your old human self, but now he will be free to come and go into your house as please him. I'm so sorry."

"Caroline, stop this" Elena said frowning. "I'm not afraid of Klaus and I know now more than before, that he won't hurt me, whatever happens after tonight."

Caroline stood up and took a few steps away from Elena.

"How can you believe such a thing, we don't know what he's capable of..." she said, looking at the street lights.

Elena walked up to her friend and grabbed her shoulders so they would face each other. "He cares about you Caroline, and I think you made it pretty clear in there that you do not encourage him to use me in the future. So I believe he cares enough about you to at least postpone his plans."

Caroline looked up at her, tears swelling in her eyes, _and I stupidly still care about him too_, she thought.

"We need his help Care, if we ever want to see Stefan and Matt again, and if we want a less agitated Bonnie we also need him to help us free Shane. I don't care about the Cure if it means I'll lose them Caroline, you know that..."

"What do you say Caroline, are you willing to bury the hatchet?"

Both girls turned to see Klaus standing on the porch, _how long had he been there?_ Caroline asked herself.

"I'll leave you two alone and see if they need me inside."

Elena left her friend behind and passed next to Klaus, giving him a warning look before she entered her house.

"Caroline..."

"Don't", she interrupted him. "don't try to sweet talk yourself out of this."

"I'm not trying to do anything like that."

"Sure you don't" she scoffed. "I can't shake the idea that you've been using me to get something out of all of this and it makes me sick."

"Get what? My family's rejection? You heard them like I did Caroline, they resent me. I have gone against them FOR YOU." he growled, unable to contend his frustration. "What more do you want me to do to prove that I am on your side. You are important to me."

"You don't know me!" she screamed at him, a soft sob escaping her lips. She wouldn't be fooled again.

"How can you say that?" he knew everything there was to know about her, he had compelled everyone in this puny town to tell him what they knew about Caroline Forbes. There was probably a few more things he would need to learn from her, more personal thing, but still her life was no mystery to him. And after last night, she must know he had worked hard to find out all those things about her.

"I have been nothing but kind to you and I could have ripped Damon's head off the second he defied me in there but I kept myself composed for your case! All I ever do is to be in your favour and you always seem to forget that that is the case. I should have compelled you to stay at your home instead of willingly letting you rush over here and spoil what could have been an extraordinary night for us" he bursted out.

"If you really knew me as much as you say you do, you would have known I would have never let you hurt my best friend. Ever!"

"Who said anything about hurting her? I plan on being very respectful..."

"By using her as a human blood bag and stealing her life-essence away from her every month or so? How very thoughtful of you" she spat. "And Elena would never let you use her blood to enslave innocent people."

"Are you really going to be like this after what happened a two hours ago" he said walking to her extending his right hand towards her.

"Don't you dare use that kiss as leverage to win back my favour. I will never let you hurt my friends or use them as your servants."

"Fine, I give you my word" he finally said, an inch away from her body, "I will never hurt the people that you love Caroline."

"Point is, you shouldn't hurt anybody. Period."

"I am not a saint Caroline, I am a Hybrid, an Original Vampire, I don't turn the cheek to betrayal or threats against me. And I will do whatever I have to protect you, I will show no mercy to those who promise to hurt or kill you."

"Is that what creating an army of hybrids is for? To help protect me? If so please don't bother... Enslaving innocent people for my advantage is not worth it."

"Creating new hybrids will permit me to create a new family, people who I will make sure, will never betray me. I will no longer be alone."

"You're not alone!"

"I'm not?" he mocked. "You heard my sister and brother, they hate me, they want nothing more than to see me miserable, or better yet, dead. I lost them, I have no one else."

"You would of had _me_!"

Caroline stared blankly at him, completely stunned at what she had just said. Klaus looked as surprised as she did which made her frown. She knew that, in some way, she wasn't being fair to him by lashing out on him like she did. She should not have presumed he was going to forget about his plan to create more hybrids, she should not have believed their current relationship would have been enough for him to be content with.

They were staring at each other's faces neither one of them making a move. Then all of a sudden Caroline felt a presence behind her. She spun around but there was no one there, still she could not shake off the feeling that someone was watching her at the very moment.

"What's wrong" Klaus asked, before smelling blood in the air. He raised his head to try to detect something else but couldn't figure out what it was.

"Someone's out there" Caroline said, her voice quivering. What if it was Tyler sneaking around and waiting for the right moment to jump on them.

"Let's go back inside" Klaus said grabbing her hand and dragging her with him. He would have investigated further but not before he knew she was safe with her friends to protect her. "I'll tell you what, I will do whatever you want me to do to help tonight, like I promised. I trust you, Caroline."

* * *

Klaus held his hand a few inches away from the map. His palm facing the ceiling, he took the kitchen knife Elena was handing him and with a slow deliberate movement, never breaking the eye contact he had with Caroline, showing her he was placing his faith into her hands, he cut his flesh and turned his hand quickly so the dark red liquid could fall before his wound healed completely.

Caroline watched as Bonnie started chanting, the second Klaus' blood hit the map and quickly two separate dots made their way opposite of each other.

They all leaned forward, intent to find the location of the nearest drop. The moment they did they stared at each other before Bonnie cried out "They're here!"

At that moment the front door flew open and they felt the wind shifting as someone moved at super speed and ended its run in front of Klaus.

"Hello brother"

A gunshot pierced through the night, making Caroline gasp.


	14. Chapter 14 - Elijah's return

**A/N: Hi guys, here's chapter 14. A few more chapters and I'm done. I have a new story in my head and I want to create my own universe but have characters from TVD in it. Before I start working on this new story I want to end this one so I'll try my best to finish it soon. **

**Once again thank you all for your comments. I have no clue what DYU means but... lol**

* * *

The shot went out of Jeremy's rifle and a stake flew out of it before a hand stopped it in mid-air preventing the weapon from hitting its target.

"What a nice way to welcome your older brother back in town" Elijah said looking at the engravings on the wooden stake. "I see you've got yourself a hunter."

"Elijah" Klaus muttured. The sight of his older brother standing in front of him made him uneasy. He knew Elijah had already been invited inside the Gilbert house and this made Elena's home an easy target for the other Originals. Now his siblings could attack from the inside and wait for the escapees to fall into their well forged web outside. He knew how they operated as he used to play an important part in their hunting games.

Now that he thought about it, Elijah must have been the presence Caroline and he had felt outside, yet they could not rule out the possibility that he had not come here alone. "Are you here to deliver a message from Rebekah and Kol, or are you here to kill me?" He did not mention a possible threat on Caroline's life. If Elijah tried anything against the blond beauty, he would lose his head.

"Now, now, Niklaus, you know I'm the smart brother of the family. Why would I go against you? I think our siblings have gone a little too far on their angsty teenagers phase." He looked around at Elena and her friends and walked up to the doppelganger, holding his hand out for her to take.

She did reluctantly and the moment her fingers touched his hand he quickly brought them to his lips kissing them softly. "Elena, always a pleasure to see you."

Damon stepped closer to Elena, ready to pull her back should he feel a menace from Elijah. He wasn't sure if this was some kind of play the Originals were putting up.

As Elijah moved slowly away from Elena, Klaus went back so he could shield Caroline from his brother. Although Elijah did not try to hurt her when he came in, or anyone for that matter, Klaus couldn't completely trust him not with everything else going on with his younger brother and sister.

"What are you doing here Elijah?" Elena asked.

"Yes, it's not your style to barge into someone's house like that brother, unless you have a mission to fulfill or a planof your own to satisfy. My guess would be you're here on our kins' behalf. Don't pretend you don't know what their plan is."

Klaus could feel Caroline's breath on the back of his neck and he knew she had moved closer behind him. He felt better at the thought that no matter how much the young woman hated him, she still sought safety in his arms.

"I know _of_ a plan about making you regret what you did to them in the past, but I had no interest in it, I told you that." He turned to look at Elena, "The reason why I'm here is to pledge my alliance to you to help you stop them in their tracks. I see they have taking hostages amongs your friends, I am sorry" looking again at Klaus he continued, "I lost too many of my family members Niklaus, I do not plan on adding you or any of them on that list. I know that your own impulse could make you take unfortunate decisions, so let me help you and I will be on your side tonight and will make them see reason before anything regrettable happens to any of you."

Elijah held out his hand to his brother to shake the deal away.

Klaus stared at his brother's hand debating wether or not he should trust Elijah. What proof did he have that he was on his side. Of course he believed the death of yet another sibling would be hard to accept for the eldest of the Mikaelsons, but he couldn't understand why he would part from a winning team of Originals to join his pathetic mixed group of baby vampires and a stubborn, reckless and insubordinate 150 years old one.

Caroline tried to analyze Elijah's face, unsure of the Original's true intentions. She had to admit he looked handsome in his attire. His brown hair was a bit shorter than what she remembered but he was still as well dressed, with a black jacket, white shirt and black tie. Yet, she reminded herself that a person's look did not reflect one's personality as much as the popular thought said. This was her old shallow self taking over her mind. The proof was that Elijah, as handsome and well-dressed as he was, had killed hundreds, maybe thousands, of people for all she knew. She needed to be cautious and stay on her guards.

She saw Klaus step forward before reaching and grabbing his older brother's hand.

"Then, I'm glad you haven't joined them into their madness" he said.

"Well if you ask me, I think this is Kol's doing. Rebekah has always been an impressionable young woman, especially when she loves the subject that influences her judgement."

"Okay can we get back to finding the the psychopaths now?" Damon exclaimed.

Elijah turned and pointed his finger on the map exactly where Klaus' second blood drop, the largest one, had slid to "here's where you'll find them" he said. "That's about 500 feet from here so you could easily rush there in about... hmmm I'd say 5 minutes if you drag Bonnie with you. But I would recommend you be extra careful before you do anything, I dare to say, because as Originals we are extremely strong opponents. We know battle strategies you could not even dream of. You can not go blindly into their hideout, it would be like suicide and would not help your friends."

"Well it's a good thing we have two Originals of our own, especially one that's an Hybrid" Jeremy said holding onto Bonnie's hand.

Bonnie looked up at him surprised by his words. She let go of his hand smiling at him, and grabbed for her purse next to her.

"I do not plan on attacking my siblings tonight and you young Gilbert should find a safe place to hide, because if they ever put their hands on you, there will be no questions the Cure will be theirs."

"I can take care of myself, I killed dozens of vampires so far" Jeremy said.

"Killing dozens of vampires does not cut it I'm afraid when it comes to Old Ones such as ourselves. Your hunter's skills make you faster and stronger than humans, true, but you are still no match to us. You are still too young and unexperienced" Elijah argued.

"Why can't they share the Cure then if they want it, that would solve the problem?" Elena asked.

Elijah looked at Klaus meaningfully "I take it you haven't told them?"

"Told us what?" Caroline asked, moving so she would face Klaus now.

Klaus shrugged "It's only an old folk story, plus it's irrelevant information."

"Let us be the judge of that" she replied, eyebrows furrowed.

Elijah, stepped in to prevent his brother more trouble with the fierce baby vampire. He knew his Niklaus had feelings for the blond bombshell in front of him. It had been so long since Klaus had let someone into his heart he genuinely wanted to help him.

"Legend says that Silas was buried in his tomb with the Cure" he said.

"Yes, that we know" Damon said.

"Yes, well, what you don't know of this story is that he was buried with one dose of the Cure. A dose sufficient for one person only."

"What?" Elena asked. She knew everyone wanted her to take the Cure but that was without knowing nobody else could take it with her. Could she knowingly take it now, and prevent her friends from experiencing the same miracle in their lives.

"It doesn't change anything" Damon started.

"Of course it does! How could I steel Caroline, Stefan or your own rights to humanity? What rights to I have?"

Damon took hold of her shoulders trying to calm her down.

"First I don't want the Cure" he said.

"Me neither Elena" Caroline said.

"Don't say that just to make me feel better. And I know for a fact Stefan wanted it."

"Yes Stefan wanted it if it meant he would live his life with you Elena. He had no interest in becoming human again if it meant he would not have been living it with you. As for me, although there was nothing more I wanted 150 years ago when I became a vampire, I find nothing appealing about it today." At her stunned expression he took a few steps back from her, trying to give her some space.

"And, I don't want it. I prefer the person I've become now. I don't want to go back to the old frail Caroline I used to be." She walked to her friend and took her hand in hers. "Take it Elena."

"I've found them" Bonnie said. While they were having their arguments she had used the locator spell to find Stefan – with a few drops of Damon's blood he had slipped to her when Klaus and Caroline where on the porch – and Shane with the hairbrush she had taken from his apartment. "They are all together, that's a good thing."

"Let's go to them then." Elijah said, smiling.

"Wait, wait, wait, what's our plan?" Caroline asked. Hadn't he just told them not to rush over there without preparation and a good plan?

"I'll tell you on the way over, my dear." Elijah said.


	15. Chapter 15 - The Assault

**A/N: Hey guys, yes a new chapter! I hope you guys will like it. See you at the bottom.**

* * *

They all ran to the location shown on the map, following Elijah's lead. Thanks to Bonnie's power of persuasion over the young Hunter, Jeremy had agreed to go to the Lake House and wait for them to return. Elena had promised him they would all come back safe and sound.

Damon had taken Bonnie piggyback riding so they wouldn't be slowed down by her non-vampiric speed. Elena remained close to them keeping a protective eye on the both of them, hoping she wouldn't lose any one of her loved ones tonight.

Klaus and Caroline were running next to one another, Klaus having to slow his pace to stay at level with hers. He would not let her out of his sight tonight. Although he now decided to give his eldest brother his complete trust, he would never let his other siblings near the blond vampire ever again.

He glanced her way quickly noticing her stony expression. She might still hate him right now but he was sure she'd get over their latest spat soon. Their new relationship could not be over already, he would not permit it.

At first he had had no idea what his brother's plan had been all about, but noticing Elijah's confidence in it he had been won over by curiosity. He had taken a hold of his brother's arm and pretending a need for a brotherly discussion to the others, dragged him outside on the front lawn.

He had confronted Elijah pushing him to explain why they could now suddenly plan the freedom of the members of the Scooby Gang while a few minutes earlier he warned them to beware of rushing over there blindly.

Elijah had finally explained.

When he had gone to their siblings' hideout earlier that day he hadn't been welcomed to go around the house they had occupied, and so he hadn't known if there had been other people inside, except for Stefan who had still been tortured by Kol at the time. But now knowing that they were all together under the same roof made it less of a challenge for his plan to work.

So here it was, the infallible plan: they needed the witch of course, as she was now their most powerful ally being an Expression practitioner. Now with the help of Damon they could both neutralize Kol, while Klaus tried to talk Rebekah out of her non-sense. Elijah, Elena and Caroline would then free their friends and get them to safety should anything unfortunate happen with Kol and Rebekah. Elena would take care of Shane and Caroline take Matt to safety.

Elijah had handed Klaus his two silver daggers he had retrieved from the Mikealson' Manor along with the bottle containing the White Oak ashes, to use on Kol - and Rebekah, should she be hard to convince.

Elijah had then promised that, would it be deemed necessary, he would fly with their siblings' corpses to another country and wait a few years before undaggering them. Klaus had been seduced by the idea knowing that this would give Caroline a break from all the drama in her life. The only problem remaining would then be Tyler, which he could easily take care of himself.

Klaus had agreed to the plan and they had gotten back inside the Gilbert's house. Under the scrutinizing looks that met them when they walked in, they had agreed on telling the gang everything about the course of actions they'd need to take in the next few minutes.

* * *

"So we go around the house and wait for your signal, that's it?" Caroline murmured. "How are we going to get in?"

"The same way the Original psychos have" Damon answered. "Probably killed the owners before they used this place as their hideout."

"Actually this place is one of our old family houses" Klaus said.

"Wow must be very old then..." Damon remarked.

"A few hundreds of years. A witch casted a preservation spell on the house" Elijah said.

"Wait! What? You already had a house close to Mystic Falls? Why did you have that big Manor built in our town then?" Caroline asked.

"Because I wanted something big enough for my whole family to live in. This place is puny."

Caroline looked at the bungalow a few meters away. It was a decent size, as big as the house her dad had had with Steven in Georgia. She rolled her eyes at Klaus, before Elijah then motioned for her and Elena to follow him around to the back of the house.

Klaus looked at their retreating figures, hoping he hadn't put her in more danger, leaving her with Elijah.

"Okay witch, it's time for you to do your thing" Klaus said looking at Bonnie's determined face.

Bonnie straightened up and started muttering words under her breath.

"They have no protective barriers on" she breathed. "No witch inside or in the surroundings that I can sense. I've put up a protection spell on all of us but all I can promise is that if you get staked, you might not die" she said looking apologetically at Damon.

"Good enough" Klaus said, noticing Damon looking at him with narrowed eyes, he gave him a crooked smile. He knew he couldn't die from a stake in the heart, unless his sister had gotten her hands on the White Oak stake, which he knew the Salvatores had in their possession. Damon had confirmed the stake was in a safe place, refusing to give its exact location away.

Klaus took hold of the dagger his brother had lent him and placed it in his jeans' back pocket. Damon had the other dipped dagger in his possession and he knew he was not to use it unless it was unavoidable. Knowing the younger vampire's recklessness Klaus knew he'd have to keep a close eye on the eldest Salvatore tonight.

"Let's go" he said.

They marched up to the front yard Bonnie working her magic to make them invisible to any prying eyes. She magically unlocked the door and they silently walked in single file, Klaus leading the group.

* * *

Caroline walked across forest of trees surrounding the house, trying to conceive their presence to the inhabitants of the house. Elena was next to her while Elijah walked a few feet in front of them.

Suddenly Caroline heard a twig snap behind her and she spun around before she was slammed against a tree trunk.

"Caroline!" Elena cried.

Caroline looked at her friend and noticed Elijah had disappeared from the spot he had occupied two seconds ago. Had he fled? Was this a part of a double cross against her friends. She felt her assailant's breath on her neck and she kicked him in his private parts putting all her strength into the hit. He doubled back and Elena came running with a broken branch in her hand, ready to stake the attacker with it. Before she was able to do so though, he grabbed her by the throat and brought her down on her back, the point of her makeshift resting against her chest.

"Tyler!" Caroline cried out, finally making out his features in the darkness.

"Make one sudden move and she's dead, Care" he said, loathing sounding in his voice.

"Stop it Tyler! This isn't you. You are not this mad person I see in front of me."

"She's right Tyler, you're our friend" Elena tried.

"SHUT UP!" he yelled. "You" he pointed at Caroline "You destroyed me."

"What? Tyler, I'm sorry but..."

"You are with _him_ now. Have you pledged your alliance to him while you two were romantically dancing last night or did you wait until you finally had him in your bed?" he spat.

Caroline's face went red. How could he know? Had he been spying on her?

"I didn't pledge alliance to anybody other than my friends. If you want to know, then here it is. I like Klaus. I feel good when I'm with him, well most of the time anyway. He treats me better than you have in the past months. He understands me and tries to learn stuff about me instead of always talking about him and his problems."

Tyler looked at her with disgust. "You think he cares about you? Don't you remember not that long ago you telling me he didn't care about anybody other than himself. Has he brainwashed you since then, or something?"

"I used to think that but not anymore. He and I aren't that different. Why do you care anyway, don't you hate me now?" She wanted to rush to him and push him away from Elena, but she didn't want to sign her friend's death warrant by doing so.

"I do" he said. He snapped the branch in two before twirling its smaller part between his fingers. He looked at Caroline and smiled. "I lost two of the most important people in my life because of Klaus, first my mom and then you. I will make him pay, and you will also suffer for your betrayal. Say goodbye to Elena, Caroline. Here lies Klaus' precious doppelganger and my ex-girlfriend's best friend."

As he drew his arm back taking his aim on Elena's heart and readied himself for the kill, Elijah emerged out of nowhere behind him and plunged his hand into Tyler's back, withdrawing it with the young hybrid's heart between his fingers. Caroline and Elena both let out a cry of despair at the sight of Tyler's body crashing to the ground.

"I think you ladies have just blown up our covers" he said nonchalantly pulling a handkerchief from his jacket's left inside pocket and wiping at his hands with it.

Caroline stared in shock at Tyler's lifeless body as Elena squirmed back to her feet and rushed to take her friend in her arms.

* * *

Klaus' body tensed the moment he heard Caroline's cry. He was about to turn around when he felt Damon's strong grip on his arm. He looked at him with a determined expression before he motioned towards Bonnie's figure in front of them.

If they ran off now, Bonnie would be in danger and they would lose their advantage. Although Klaus couldn't care less about the Cure and their stupid plan at the moment, he hoped that his brother would be able to protect her should she be in danger.

They turned a corner before they heard Stefan's whimpers. It was Klaus' turn to hold on to Damon before the raven haired vampire rushed inside the room without expecting it first.

"Did you hear that" came Rebekah's voice from the basement below them.

"It's probably one of the neighbours again" Kol said. "They always scream, or cry, or scream _and_ cry. Probably still having nightmares from our last visit to their house last night."

"It could be _them_ Kol. I told you Elijah could team up with Klaus and his pets, now that he refused our alliance. You think maybe Tyler found them?"

At the mention of Tyler's name, Klaus had to focus all his energy in not running out the front door to meet up with Caroline. He knew of one way to know if the baby vampire was okay. He looked at Bonnie and nodded at her. It was time for them to give the signal. They had located Stefan, they knew where Kol and Rebekah were. It was time for his older brother and his team to step in.

Bonnie walked to the back door and concentrated her energy on the lights outside, in the garden. She made them flicker three times before she magically and noiselessly unlocked the door. She then turned on her heels and walked past Klaus and Damon, motioning for them to follow her to the stairs where Kol and Rebekah were still arguing.

"Fine, go check it out if you want. I think it's pointless. Elijah would never go against us. He is as frustrated with our dear stepbrother as we are. He didn't forget the multiple times we were all staked or manipulated by Klaus."

"You want me to go up there alone while I could be killed by them if I'm right?" Klaus heard the shock and hurt in his baby sister's voice.

_Oh trouble in paradise already, sister?_

"But you're not right, that's what I'm trying to tell you."

Klaus remained on the main floor, while Damon and Bonnie went down the stairs noiselessly, still under Bonnie's protection spell. As the young witch came to the last step they all heard the back door creek open. Before the two Originals could react, Bonnie used her powers to cause multiple aneurisms to Kol while Damon rushed to Rebekah, taking her by surprise, and pushed her against the opposite wall.

Kol curled up on the floor under the pain Bonnie was inflicting him, before Damon flashed to him and kicked him hard in his side, making him fly up in the air and lend on his stomach. Rebekah tried to rush to his aid but was stopped by an invisible barrier.

"Kol!"

"I'd get out of here if I were you" Damon said, a maniacal expression crossing his face as he turned back to Kol's body, his hands itching to get the dagger out of his pocket and avenge his brother for the torture the youngest Original had inflicted him.

Klaus kept his attention on what was going on downstairs but he kept his gaze on the corridor leading from the dining room, where the back door was, to the other parts of the house. Elijah, Elena and Caroline would need to use it in order to get to Stefan who was still tied up against the living room's fireplace where a blazing fire was scorching at the skin of his back. Just then Elijah came out of the dining room. He nodded towards Klaus before he motioned for the girls to follow his footsteps.

Caroline followed Elena and moved quickly behind her but Klaus was able to notice her blank expression as she made her way to the living room apparently not noticing him, or simply ignoring him for all he knew.

What had happened outside? He jerked out of his thoughts, at least he knew she was still alive, and she didn't seem physically harmed. Yet he had to remind himself this was no time to be unfocused.

He then heard steps rushing towards him and he prepared himself to welcome his treacherous sister in his arms.

* * *

Caroline felt like she was in a bad dream. As she watched Tyler's lifeless body hit the forest ground just before Elena crashed into her arms and murmured encouraging words to her.

"It's okay Care, it's okay."

"No it's not okay, it's _Tyler,_ Elena! Oh my god... oh my god, Tyler!" she said, sobbing. She started hyperventilating, while Elena brushed her blond locks away from her face.

"It wasn't the Tyler we knew, Caroline. Our friend, the guy you fell in love with was long gone."

"It was all my fault, just because I fell for Klaus..."

"It had started before... Ever since he became a hybrid he started acting weird."

Elijah stepped closer to them "Ladies, we need to move now. They are about to give us the signal."

Just as he said it the lights outside the bungalow started flashing three times before it stopped. "There it is. It's time to go. Are you going to be okay Caroline?"

As she looked up at him, her eyes full of tears, before averting his stare, he realized that he couldn't take a chance leading her inside the house in the state she was in.

"Caroline, look at me" he said.

Elena stiffened next to him "Elijah don't..."

"There is no other option Elena, please trust me" he returned his gaze to the blond vampire who had finally managed to lift her head again and was looking up in his eyes. He concentrated on her blue eyes and the moment her pupils dilated he got the confirmation he could compel her, that the vervain that Kol and Rebekah had forced into her had completely left her system.

"You will be fine. Tyler was going to kill your best friend and would have probably killed you afterwards. Now I want you to get over this this instant and go on with our plan. Do you remember what your implication in it is?"

Her expression blank, she slowly nodded.

"Good, now, I want nothing in there to prevent you from fulfilling your duty in helping your friends, do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Then let's go."

Elena gave her best friend a concerned look before following Elijah. She made sure Caroline walked closely behind her.

Elijah moved cautiously to the back door inspecting the garden for security cameras or traps that his siblings could have set for unexpected visitors. He thought it suspicious there was nothing visible to his vampire sight but did not think it over too much, they had a mission to fulfill and they had little time to do so. He grabbed the door knob, and turning it, he met no resistance, confirming Bonnie had done her part. As he slowly pushed the door open, they all froze at the squeaking sound it made.

Elijah recovered quickly, well if their cover hadn't been blown already by Elena and Caroline's cries this should have made it for them. He rushed the girls inside and they quickly walked up to the corridor leading to the living room and the bed chambers. When his eyes met Klaus', his brother waiting at the top of the staircase for Rebekah, he quickly acknowledged his presence before turning to the girls and motion for them to follow him. He took his right to find the young Salvatore brother strapped to the room's fireplace by chains that had no doubt been dipped into a vervain mixture.

As he heard Elena's gasp he turned around to face her. Seeing her former lover in such bad shape must be hard for her but he could not let her emotions get in their way, not for such a delicate operation.

"Elena, I need you to go in the other rooms and look for Matt and Shane, okay? Let me take care of Stefan, I will feed him some of my blood and he will recover quickly, now go please. Matt is still somewhere in this house we need to save him."

At the mention of Matt's name, he saw the young vampire snap out of her misery before she quickly flashed out of the room.

Elijah reached into his jacket's pocket for his leather gloves, "Caroline, I need you to come over here my dear, please."

Caroline walked up to Elijah and waited for his next instructions, her attention completely focused on the Eldest Original.

"I need you to hold on to Stefan" he said before pointing at the floor, where a wooden stake had been positioned so that if Stefan managed to break free from his bonds, he'd fall to the floor and directly onto the stake, killing him instantly. He was grateful Elena hadn't noticed the stake before she ran off.

"I'm going to get these chains off of him so be sure to pull him away before he falls down. Okay?"

"Yes."

Putting on his gloves, he then gripped the chains and pulled hard on them.

* * *

Klaus saw Elena rush past him before he felt his sister's presence at the base of the stairs.

Rebekah ran up the steps looking behind her as she did, she never saw Klaus when she ran right into his arms.

"Klaus!"

"Hello sister" he said before snapping her neck.

* * *

**A/N: What did you guys think? I did not want Klaus to kill Tyler, no matter what Tyler did or would have done to Caroline, in my mind I don't believe she could forgive him if he killed someone she loved or had loved in the past. Same thing for the mind controlling. Caroline would never agree to being manipulated... so Elijah was the perfect candidate to do it. **


	16. Chapter 16 - Belief

They all met in the basement. Kol was out cold from the torture both Bonnie and Damon had inflicted him. Damon being as unpredictable as he was, had given the dagger to Bonnie and she had willingly dragged it into Kol's chest.

Klaus dropped Rebekah's unconscious body next to his brother's and rushed to the witch and vampire.

"I thought I had made myself clear as to not use the dagger unnecessarily."

"Why bother given it to me then?" Damon asked, looking between Elena and Stefan. His brother was leaning against a wall, his eyes unfocussed, sipping at the blood bag they had given him. Colours were coming back to his sickly white face. The burns from the fire and vervained ropes were also healing slowly.

"Why indeed?" Klaus spat back at him. "Then again I don't see why I don't end this right now. Dagger them both and lock them away."

"Because we need information from them" Elijah stepped in, putting a hand on his brother's forearm. He turned his gaze toward Bonnie and Damon, "Please keep an eye on them."

Damon and Bonnie nodded, looking over the two youngest members of the Mikaelson family, ready to jump on Rebekah the moment she would wake up. Bonnie also kept a protective glance on Shane who was sitting on the ground, pressing his knees to his chest. He had refused Elena's blood to quicken his healing, pretending he wasn't physically harmed, simply shaken up. She knew of what Stefan had told them that they had starved Shane for two days and had intimidated him and terrorized him in his sleep, trying to get him to give away the location of Silas' tomb, but he swore he did not tell them what he knew. Bonnie was sure they had physically injured him as well but for some reason he stuck to his original story. At Bonnie's shocked expression he reassured her that he had seen worst back when he had travelled through the Middle East and he pleaded for her to remain calm and trust him when he said he was okay.

Elijah dragged Klaus to the opposite corner of the room and that's when Klaus noticed Caroline, pacing around like a mad lioness trying to protect her cubs. Although he thought she still looked quite attractive with that mad expression, Klaus did not understand what was wrong with her. Because something was definitely off.

Concerned, he took a few steps her way before Elijah grabbed his arm again, stopping him in his pace. Klaus turned his stony expression towards his brother.

"What is wrong with her?" he asked pointing at Caroline. "What happened outside, Elijah? I heard her scream and she's been acting bizarre ever since you came in. What have you done?"

"What happened is her ex-boyfriend showed up and attacked Caroline and Elena in the woods surrounding the house" sensing his brother's muscles tense under his hand, he quickly continued "No harm was done... not to them anyway. You'll be happy to hear Tyler Lockwood is dead. She on the other hand did not take it well, I had to take action in order to continue on with our plan..."

Klaus quickly did the maths, "You compelled her" he growled, unhappy with his brother.

"I did not have a choice and you know it. You would have done the same thing" Elijah retorted.

Klaus' face turned to the side, his brows furrowed. Elijah thought the idea of his brother hesitating to compel someone after he compelled thousands of innocents before, quite disturbing. "Then again, maybe you would have not."

Klaus ignored his elder's somewhat proud eyes and moved past him to look at the blond vampire. "Why is she still acting like this? The mission is done, it's complete."

Elijah looked at Caroline. She was biting her nails and every sound made her snap her head in the direction it came from.

"You see, the problem is her mission was to find Matt and bring him safely away from here... and Matt, well he is not in this house."

* * *

Elena was keeping an eye on the stairway when she heard Klaus and Elijah's discussion.

"What do you mean Matt is not in the house? I thought the witch had said they were all here!" Klaus snapped.

Elena stepped in to give the eldest Mikaelson some help, she moved closer to the two men aware she could get caught in the crossfire of an argument between the brothers "We didn't have anything belonging to Matt, but we were sure he was here. This is not Bonnie's fault. Maybe Rebekah felt bad and sent him back to Mystic Falls... I will try his cellphone, maybe he put it back on."

Ignoring the young brunette, Klaus walked up to Elijah "Take the compulsion away, let her live this the way she wants."

"We have no time for her to go in a fit over Tyler's death or Matt's whereabouts, believe me we are better off with Caroline in this zombie state than her going around mopping" Damon said, matter-of-factly.

"Geez, a bit of compassion."

They all whirled around to look at Rebekah, grabbing her head as if she was trying to push away a massive headache (which she probably was).

"Ouch! Nicklaus, that hurt."

Klaus walked to her, giving her a hard look.

"_Sister_, tell me, how did you like the ambush? I remember you used to love big surprise parties back in the days."

"Quit with the chitchat. What do you want?" she looked to her right and saw her brother's dead-ish body "Kol!"

She tried to get up to reach him but Klaus pushed her back hard making her fall on her behind. "Not so fast baby sister."

"Rebekah" Elijah said, his voice suave, persuasive "we want you no harm."

Rebekah scoffed and pushed back her blond hair which had fell in her face. "Sure you don't. That's why you burst in here and attack us."

"I know the choice of word is a bit childish love but, even you would have to admit, you started it" Klaus replied. "First you planned this big attack against me. You hired Tyler, who is dead by the way but I guess you care as much as I do about your little puppets' survival. Then, you tried to kill Caroline. You stole my sword and somehow managed to learn about this man's (he pointed at Shane) knowledge of the tomb's whereabouts and kidnapped him. Did you really think this would go unpunished? Kol got reckless, torturing Stefan here instead of simply killing him, which made Damon quite revengeful and Bonnie, our now strongest weapon, was waiting for nothing else then a reason to stake one of us Originals in the back. Well you certainly gave her one of those now by taking her teacher-boyfriend away."

He saw from the corner of his eyes Bonnie flinch. Elena moved closer to Stefan so they showed a united front with Bonnie and Damon on their right.

"Kol did a wonderful job collecting information" Rebekah said, pleased to see Klaus' displeasure. "He's the one who found out about dear Mister Atticus Shane. After every session at the Gilbert's Lake House he stayed behind, hiding, and he learned so much from these two chatterboxes (she nodded in Elena and Bonnie's direction – smiling sweetly) it was just a matter of timing before we could orchestrate everything. Tyler was hard to convince."

She looked at Caroline frowning "What's wrong with her? Anyway he did not believe me when I told him you two were a thing now that he was out of the picture, he was still loyal to his friends. But he got around eventually after I sent him proof of what I was saying." She reached for her cell phone and selected her photo gallery before throwing it at Klaus. He scrolled through the pictures of him and Caroline. He stopped on one of them which was showing Caroline and him, their faces an inch apart. The intensity of their exchange was palpable. "And when he realized I was saying the truth, well, he reacted beyond my expectation."

"Yet you knew he would not stand a chance against me" Klaus said, plucking the phone in his back pocket.

"I hoped he would have had the chance to finish Caroline off before you came crashing the party. But the past is the past and we must look forward."

"Since your puppet is now dead and you are cornered, yes I would say looking forward is your best and only option" Elijah intervened.

He walked to his sister and knelt to be at eye-level with her "Rebekah, you realize I can not permit you to go on with this vengeance plan you have. You and Kol need to get back to us, so we can live as a family again."

Rebekah simply scoffed and looked at her brother's lifeless body next to her. "Then undagger him. Show me you are willing to show us mercy, and then we can discuss a mutual agreement of peacekeeping."

Elijah got back up and turned to Klaus, and expecting look on his face. Klaus felt Caroline move next to him, she had gotten closer to him when Rebekah had woken up, wether to be by his side to face his sister or to force Matt's location out of the other blonde, he did not know.

Klaus narrowed his eyes trying to perceive any sign of deception from her sister. His gut feeling told him not to trust Rebekah, and yet Elijah was so sure that their family's reunion was imminent that he thought maybe his gut feeling was a repercussion of his uncontrollable lack of trust for everyone.

Finally, Klaus nodded his agreement.

"Oh come on! I can smell the mutiny from here" Damon exclaimed.

"He's right don't trust her!" Bonnie cried out.

Rebekah smiled and turned before undaggering Kol.

"Family is everything, you should know that Damon" Elijah said, smiling at the raven-haired younger vampire. "We will work out our differences."

"As long as you do that far far away from Mystic Falls, I have no problem with that."

Klaus was staring at Kol's greyish body slowly regain his colours. It would take his brother a minute or so before he'd start annoying him again. He felt warm fingers on his forearm and looked at Caroline stairing up at him.

"It's going to be fine" she said.

She was still frowning, undoubtedly still preoccupied by Matt's absence and yet she felt the need to reassure him.

"Tell me Bekah, as a peace offering, would you tell us where dear Matt is? You wouldn't have killed the young man now would you?"

He hoped his voice was level as he did not want his sister to understand how important that information was for him or Caroline, at this moment. They all jumped when they heard a voice come from behind them.

"I'm right here."

In a synchronized movement everyone turned towards the staircase, there stood Matt, with a 30-or-so year old latina woman with a satisfied smile on her face. Slumped on the ground next to them was Jeremy with a nasty gash on his forehead.

"Rebekah, what have you done?" Elijah murmured.

"It's a trap" Klaus growled looking meaningfully at his older brother.

And then all hell broke loose.


	17. Chapter 17 - The Witch's Deal

**N/A: Here goes nothing... Hope you guys enjoy.**

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"Jeremy!" both Elena and Bonnie yelled out at the sight of the young man's lifeless form on the ground.

Black veins started appearing around Elena's eyes, rage boiled inside her at the thought that this woman had attacked her baby brother. She was about to flash to her to rip open the artery in that bitch's neck when all of a sudden her brain exploded bringing her to her knees. She gripped her head with both her hands and started screaming, quickly followed by her vampire friends. Even Klaus and Elijah were on their knees, the Hybrid clutching Caroline's hand; no matter what happened he would not let her go.

He looked up at the witch, not recognizing her. Surely if this witch was powerful enough to bring two original vampires down without breaking a sweat he ought to have known of her existence.

Grunting heavily he managed to lift his shoulders up to show he was still strong enough to fight them all. That the moment they'd drop their guards he would rip the heart out and shove them up their throats. This was going to become a blood bath and the thought excited him beyond all reason. His eyes glowed yellow and black veins surrounded his eyes, a low growl escaped his lips and he fought the urges to adopt his wolf form.

"Rebekah… why are you…" Elijah asked between sharp breaths.

Rebekah walked between her two brothers stopping when she was next to the witch. She slowly turned towards the group, making this a little more dramatic than necessary.

"Bonnie… do… something! Damon cried out.

Stefan was flanked by both Elena and Damon but they were currently useless bodyguards for the weakened vampire.

"I can't! I'm trying but it's as if…"

"You're engulfed into a plastic bubble preventing you from using your powers. Preventing you from breathing, even. You're suffocating now aren't you?" the witch said smiling evilly.

Klaus turned his head ever so slightly to look at Bonnie. The young witch was on her hands and knees, with one hand clutching at her throat. Her features showed a mask of hatred and concentration. Unfortunately nothing happened to help her friends.

"Impossible…" Klaus had never witnessed an Expression user taken down before. They always ended up dying because they never could handle the outburst of power that came with it. So unless this witch was also an Expression adept…

"Your powers are no match to mine Bonnie Bennett." Her voice was strong but level. She was in complete control of her element.

Klaus took a quick look around, his vision was getting blurred but he noticed the history teacher was still on the ground at the exact same spot he had been a few minutes before, but he did not seem to be in pain. Maybe the witch didn't consider him as much a threat as the others were.

"How do you … know… my name?" The air in Bonnie's magical invisible bubble was starting to dwindle and Bonnie was fighting to stay alert.

The witch gave her a wicked smile "Oh I know everything there is to know about you, young lady... and your friends" she finished, expending her arms to englobe every individual in the room.

"Rebekah … why are you … doing this." Elijah started, pleading. "Please… you remember our oath… Always and forever… you… me … and Niklaus."

Klaus looked up at his sister. He remembered that promise like it was yesterday when really it had happened a thousand years ago. They had been just the three of them, in a circle, holding hands promising to never break the bond they had between them. Looking up in Rebekah's watery eyes he thought they were getting through her resistance, finally talking some sense into the youngest of the Originals.

Suddenly Klaus saw a blur and Kol appeared in front of Elijah holding the silver stake. "Too bad I'm not part of the inner circle then right?" and he pushed the stake hard into Elijah's chest dragging a painful breath out of the eldest of the Mikaelsons.

"NO!" Klaus bellowed. "I WILL KILL ALL OF YOU, THIS TIME FOR GOOD!"

"Oh shush... You are in no position to give empty threats Nik" Kol laughted, amused he joined Rebekah's side.

The blonde vampire was holding back tears looking at her older brother. Apparently this had not been planned.

The rest of the gang all stared in shock as Elijah fell to the ground, his veins protruding from his now grey skin.

"Oh my god" Caroline let out a breath between two excruciating aneurism fits. She had felt a huge weight lifted off her chest when she noticed Matt standing in the room with them but quickly realized that there was no way around the witch she would have to be patient, then all of a sudden the pressure was completely lifted off of her and all she was left with was the pain. The agony from the multiple explosions of vessels in her head.

Then she realized Klaus' defeated expression and following his gaze she saw Elijah, face on the floor, dead. Of course he wasn't dead dead. Just... out of it.

She realized Klaus was still holding her hand and she squeezed his fingers as best she could.

Looking apparently bored from all the family drama, the witch turned her attention back to Bonnie.

"So Bonnie, dear, I have a suggestion for you. Either you take your friends and leave. Or you stay and die. The choice is yours."

Bonnie finally felt she could breathe freely again.

"Why would you offer me and my friends such an easy way out?"

"Oh, I never said it was going to be easy, but you will see that in time" the witch smiled. "For instance, I will need to take your professor and this young hunter with me."

"What? I can't let you take Jeremy or Shane away!"

"Alas your options are non-negotiable. It's either you save some or none of your friends. So what will it be? I can give you a glimpse of what your friends Damon and Stefan' deaths will look like."

She glanced quickly at Klaus and he was suddenly jerked on his back and his bones started cracking and bending in unnatural angles. He started screaming from the pain the beginning of the transformation in wolf form was inflicting him.

"You'll... make him ... bite them!" Elena cried out.

"Well it's all up to Bonnie here" the witch said matter-of-factly.

Klaus' screams resonated in the room. He was fighting the transformation, not for the Salvatores' sake, but because he was not going to let the witch control him.

"Who are you anyway?" Bonnie asked.

"Oh Bonnie, haven't you figured it out yet? We are bond by blood which explains why you are so powerful. But I have been around for far longer than you my dear." She looked at Shane who was hiding in the far corner of the room. "Do not be afraid human, your cause is noble. I can help you fulfill it. I will help you revive Silas and drop the veil between the two worlds."

"How..." Shane muttered.

"I long to reunite with my love at last..." The witch said dreamily.

"Qetsiyah..." Bonnie said, incredulously.

"Yes, in flesh and blood" Qetsiyah said. "Well not really. This body belongs to a young witch called Mariana or Matianya or something. I am still bond to the Other Side, but I found a way to possess this mortal woman who happened to be experiencing with some very dark magic. I impersonated her well enough for the twelve other members of her coven to not be suspicious of anything before I slaughtered them. I closed the Expression Triangle, now twelve humans; twelve demons and twelve witches' blood have been shed to help sever the veil between both worlds. Once this was done I needed to find the right people to help me get the action going and find Silas' new emplacement. The world has changed so much since I died, and my fellow witches have prevented me from keeping a close eye on him. Since I followed your little group's action ever since the first small glimpse of your powers have shown, I thought you would help me, being so eager to make your friend Elena a human again, but then I met my friend Kol here in a local bar called The Mystic Grill and he was more than willing to help in exchange for the Cure to immortality. He promised he would do what would be necessary to help get to the cure and so far he has not disappointed me. He somewhat befriended you and helped train the latest addition to the hunter's family and got valuable information on one Atticus Shane" she gave Kol a genuine smile of appreciation.

"But if you give the Cure to Kol" somehow the thought was too ridiculous for Bonnie to make anything of it, "you won't be able to drop the veil and be united with Silas again, no?" she asked, intrigued.

"I can make more Cure without a problem. Back in the days, Silas was the only immortal on Earth, I did not need to make several samples. Now I could make one for all of your friends. Well at least the ones that want it" she said giving Damon a knowing look. "Yet when the veil is shattered we both will be able to live in this World. I will finally be able to leave the Other Side."

Bonnie, panicked at the thought that Qetsiyah would rule the world with her infinite power, tried to reason with the Originals. "Kol, Rebekah, you can't be serious. Dropping the veil would bring all your most powerful enemies back from the dead... you can't seriously want that?"

"We lived in the fear of our father's wrath and were on the hiding for centuries, mainly because of Niklaus. Mikael hated what he was, just a reminder of our mother's betrayal. We plan to take care of that problem. If it does not work we will simply go on and resume staying in the shadows. It will be a small price to pay. Anyway we will still be stronger than all our opponents, except maybe for our mother and father. But if our plan works, we will be able to get around that problem when it comes. I would even take the Cure if I could." Rebekah answered, smiling at Kol.

Ignoring Rebekah's last sentence Kol gave Bonnie a cocky smile "Now, Bonnie, make your choice my patience is running thin."

"I..." Bonnie gave a quick glance at Elena and the others. She felt helpless without her powers. Her eyes then met Klaus' yellow ones and she knew she had to save her friends. She hated thinking about leaving Jeremy, or Shane, behind but what other choice did she have? She could not endanger everyone. And she might also be able to reason with Qetsiyah. Unwillingly she agreed, "I... I will leave with my friends."

"Wise choice." She pointed at Klaus and the transformation ended. She also stopped the aneurisms on the others.

Exhausted from the battle he had just fought with all his might, Klaus dropped to his knees.

Jeremy started grunting and lifted himself up on his elbows, "wha... what's going on?"

"Finally!" Kol exclaimed before grabbing Jeremy by his shirt and shoving him next to Elijah's body.

"Jeremy!" Elena shouted.

She shot up aiming for Kol's head but she slammed hard in an invisible wall.

"Now, now dear. Don't interfere, these are the rules. Proceed Kol" Qetsiyah said.

Kol looked at Matt meaningfully and held out his hand, palm up, waiting for the young man to give him his next accessory.

"Let go you dick!" Jeremy yelled, kicking and trying to shove the Original away from him, but Kol's grip was just too strong. The injury Jeremy had received from either Matt or Qetsiyah was already healing and his strength seemed to be back.

"Now would be a good time Matt" Kol said impatiently.

Matt looked at Rebekah and she hesitated before finally nodding. She knew what was going to happen, and although she knew it was necessary, she did not support it. Yet she understood that when she had asked Kol for his assistance on getting back at Klaus, her youngest brother would be unpredictable and ruthless in his actions.

Matt reached for his jacket's inside pocket and retrieved the White Oak stake from it.

"Matt, No!" Caroline shrieked. "Where did you..."

"Care", Matt said apologetically, "I had to Care." He walked up to Kol and handed him the stake.

Rebekah grabbed his hand from behind and pulled him to her. She made him face her and with teary eyes she spoke calmly "Matt, I am so sorry for dragging you into all of this. I hope that one day you will forgive me. You are free now. Go to your friends."

Matt turned to Bonnie and Elena, his eyes full of regret "What have I done?"

Bonnie extended her arms and he ran to her, holding on to her.

"I grabbed the stake from the secret storage-room at the Lake House. I just felt I had to… and then I attacked Jeremy. I am so sorry Elena" Matt said looking at the brunette vampire. He turned to look at Jeremy and he felt extremely guilty for what was happening before them. "Jer…"

"It wasn't your fault Matt, you were compelled." Bonnie said rubbing his back.

"Compulsion does not excuse what I've done" Matt said his voice cracking at the end.

"Enough wimps, and look at the show" Kol nastily pointed.

Caroline walked slowly to Klaus. He hadn't moved since the pain the witch Qetsiyah had inflicted and then freed them from, and although the transformation had stopped Klaus had remained hunched and quiet. Too quiet.

She gently touched his shoulder which made him jerk his head up. He glared at Qetsiyah with hatred and slowly took into account what was happening. Kol holding the White Oak stake and Jeremy, close, far too close to Elijah's lifeless form on the ground.

"Kol, I'm warning you..." he grunted.

"I thought I had told you your threats do not affect me, never did, never will" Kol smirked. "Plus I have the mother of all witches on my side. Why on earth should I be afraid of you?"

Kol turned his attention to Jeremy who was still struggling against him "So young Gilbert how has the hunting been going? Killed any big bad vampires recently? Nah that's what I thought. You see we know how to go to the emplacement of the tomb, we know how to get the cure from Silas without Silas ripping our throats out, yet we are missing the most important part. Can you guess what it is? The spell. Which is ultimately revealed by the hunter's mark once it's complete. Do you get where I am going with this?"

"Why do you need the mark? If you are who you say you are, aren't you the one who created the spell that trapped Silas in the first place? Just hocus pocus him out of there", Damon asked as he sensed Elena was about to try something stupid to save her annoying brother from Kol, which would no doubt put her in great danger.

"Yes, indeed you are correct. Yet the body and mind of the young witch I am possessing right now, is weak. I am at the very limits of her powers and my limited ones in this world. Crossing over from the Other Side has reduced my abilities considerably."

_Yet she is capable of reducing four vampires, two Originals and a powerful witch to simple and useless rag dolls_, Caroline thought. _What would it be like if she had all her powers?_

"The Mark will help me cast the spell to free Silas at last as I will be able to draw additional energy from it." Qetsiyah finished.

"Aren't you afraid he's going to want to kill you, after you killed his one true love? Not sure your reunion is gonna be as magical as you'd like, honey" Damon retorted.

"Well aren't you the witty talker" Qetsiyah retorted, losing her smile. "Careful or I might take you out of the "go home safely" list young vampire. After all these years he will have forgotten about that young and foolish Akasha, and he will come back to me."

Damon did not reply but his face was clearly expressing his disdain for the witch.

"Enough of this" Kol shoved the stake into Jeremy's hand and moved the young hunter so he would face Elijah's body. "Here, you are feeling the urges to kill now aren't you? You have at your feet an Original vampire. He's weak. He's at your mercy. Take the plunge Jeremy."

Caroline noticed Jeremy's face harden under the encouragements Kol's words brought forward. The muscles of his arms were tensed and his fingers holding the stake were twitching uncontrollably. The hunter's skills kicked in as he took a deep and sharp breath, and a determined look crossed his face.

"Jeremy don't..." Elena murmured. She always appreciated Elijah and she had to calm down her instincts to fly to the Original's rescue, as doing so would endanger her brother.

Caroline instinctively gripped Klaus' forearm and felt how tensed he was. She suspected Qetsiyah was holding him down with her powers, expecting him to rush to his brother's rescue because Caroline was sure he would have reacted violently by now would he have been free to move, like they apparently all were. Of course this was just an illusion; she knew deep down that Qetsiyah would not let them interfere should they wish to try.

"I have to Elena. It's the right thing to do. I need to rid this earth from this nuisance" Jeremy retorted.

Then what happened next took everyone by surprise.

_J_eremy, at a speed nobody expected from the young man, feinted a blow towards Elijah before twisting his wrist and trusting the stake into Kol's chest.

Everyone - except for Qetsiyah who looked beyond bored – gasped in stupor.

Kol eyed Jeremy incredulously, his eyes wide with shock, Kol let out a scream right before his body caught fire. Elena jumped forward and grabbed Jeremy's arm, pulling him away from the Originals, as Rebekah let out a cry and tried to pull the stake out of Kol's chest. Her youngest brother fell on the floor still screaming.

Klaus was still in shock as he watched Kol draw his last breath. The flames quickly devoured his baby brother's body. The Original Hybrid gave Jeremy and his doppelganger sister an evil look, his eyes watering. He had himself wished to end his insufferable brat of a brother's miserable life but … now seeing his brother die; it made him question his previous intent. He was not so sure now that he would have been able to drag the stake in Kol's heart. Kol was part of his family, now it was only him, Elijah and Rebekah. Jeremy had made a terrible mistake by taking matters into his hands, Klaus would not forgive the young Gilbert's broad move.

Rebekah seemed to have thought the same thing as, her eyes filled with tears and circled by dark veins; she rushed to Jeremy, her fangs elongated, ready for the bite. Unfortunately she was met by an invisible wall an inch from her target. "I will kill you for this, hunter!"

Matt quickly put himself in front of his friend, giving Rebekah a look full of hatred. Unable to look back at Matt's expression Rebekah whirled around a savage expression on her face as she advanced on Qetsiyah.

"Let me through. Let me tear that hunter's throat."

"I can't let you do that Rebekah. We need the Hunter's mark to be completed and the Hunter alive, at least until we've reached Silas' tomb. After that you can do whatever you want with him, I do not care."

"HE KILLED KOL!" Rebekah yelled, as if it wasn't clear already.

"Best thing that happened so far today if you ask me" Damon provoked the blonde vampire, making Rebekah snap her head in his direction.

"Careful Damon or I'll rip Elena's head off, her I can kill."

"Yeah you've proved that once" Elena spat.

"What's the problem anyway Rebekah? It was either him or Elijah." Stefan said

"Yeah, at least the saner one is still alive, well sort off" Damon added, giving a quick glimpse at Elijah's still form.

"I will bring him back once the veil has been dropped, my dear. Now come we have a long journey ahead of us."

Kol's body disappeared and Shane was magically lifted off his feet. He floated all the way to Rebekah's side. The blonde vampire grabbed his elbow roughly and pulled him towards the stairs. She stopped next to Qetsiyah "What about the hunter?" she asked, hoping the witch would drop her guard and let her take care of him. Qetsiyah should have stopped Jeremy from killing Kol, she knew the plan was to kill Elijah and then bring him back, just to give him a lesson as to never betray Rebekah and Kol again. That had been the agreement they had put with the witch. Apparently Qetsiyah did not care about honouring her word. Rebekah would find a way to get back at the witch for this. Maybe Finn would help them. Maybe she would see Henrik again.

Qetsiyah was not fooled that easily.

"I will take care of young Jeremy" she extended her hand for Jeremy to willingly take.

Elena held on to Jeremy not wanting to let him go. She had no clue whether Jeremy would come out of the trip alive or not, and she did not want to have to say good bye to yet another family member. He was the only one she had left.

"No" she said, shaking her head, when she felt Jeremy move towards the witch. She knew that as a hunter Jeremy was immune to vampire compulsion but was he also immune to magical influence? Bonnie quickly came to her aid by grabbing Jeremy's hand.

"Please don't take him" she protested, pleading with Qetsiyah.

"Now, now Bonnie. The deal was for some of your friends to leave here unharmed. Jeremy has never been a part of that list and as a key player in the next steps to freeing Silas; you know that I can't leave him here with you."

"Then please promise me that he will come back to me. Alive. Please, he's … I love him." Her eyes filled with tears she felt Jeremy's eyes on her face. His hand squeezed hers reassuringly.

Qetsiyah stood there apparently unaffected by Bonnie's sudden declaration of love.

"Please Qetsiyah. As my ancestor. As a lover that lost her former companion, and has only wished to be reunited with him ever since, please do this for me. We will let you go, we will not interfere with your plan to free Silas, but just…. Let me have a chance at a happy life."

Qetsiyah pondered this for a few seconds before a soft smile spread across her face. "Very well Bonnie, I promise that Jeremy will come back to you. I promise on our ancestral line. This is my oath to you."

She reached out her hand to Bonnie, and the young witch took it with her free one, still holding Jeremy's with her other.

Bonnie instantly felt a warm fire course through her fingers. Was this how witches oaths get sealed? She let go of Qetsiyah's hand and looked at her fingers making sure they weren't full of blisters, but they looked completely normal.

Finally, Bonnie reluctantly let go of Jeremy's hand and nodded at Elena to do the same. Before joining Qetsiyah Jeremy gave his sister a bone-crushing hug and then turned to Bonnie. With his thumb he brushed a tear from her cheek and kissed her lips softly. Lips still locked in the kiss he took both her hands in his and held them.

Rebekah cleared her throat impatiently, "we're running out of time".

As she said that, Jeremy suddenly started to writhe in pain.

"Jeremy!" Elena and Bonnie exclaimed.

"It is starting" Qetsiyah said happily. She walked up to Jeremy and ripped his shirt open, revealing his sturdy upper-body. There, appeared a tattoo spreading from his right arm all the way to his heart and moving up his left shoulder again. The sign crossing his heart looked like a five point star.

"It is now complete" Qetsiyah sighted, making her fingers dance across Jeremy's chest.

"Then let's go" Rebekah said, excited at the adventure waiting ahead and the outcome that was sure to happen. Finally her plan would be fulfilled.

"Come Bonnie, it is time for you and your friends to leave this house." Elijah's body was lifted up by some magical wind and followed Rebekah and Shane while Qetsiyah, holding on to Jeremy's arm led the way for the others to follow.

Caroline got up, but realized Klaus was still not moving. Thinking maybe he'd want some alone time to grieve she went to meet her friends but she had walked just a few feet away from Klaus when she came across an invisible wall preventing her get to Bonnie and the others. Caroline then realized Qetsiyah must still be holding Klaus down with her powers and she was not letting Caroline leave either.

Caroline started pounding on the wall with all her might "Hey! What about us! Let us out!"

Bonnie and Stefan turned around surprised.

"Why is Caroline trapped there with Klaus?" Bonnie asked Qetsiyah.

"I told you Bonnie, only a few of your friends would leave and you would need to leave some behind. Elena, Matt, Stefan and Damon were to be spared. Elijah will be free as well as he was supposed to be killed by Jeremy but now that Kol took the blow I am granting him freedom. Your friend Caroline however, I had an agreement with Rebekah and Kol that she would remain behind, with Niklaus Mikaelson. Rebekah and Kol have unfinished business to settle with both of them. I will not break my promise to them. If I do, then I will have to break the one I just made to you" the witch said giving Bonnie a meaningful look. "Are you willing to risk it Bonnie?"

Caroline realized what Qetsiyah was saying. If Bonnie broke her promise to not interfere in Rebekah and Qetsiyah's plan she would endanger their other friends' lives. Caroline had always thought she'd be willing to sacrifice her life for her friends', and there were no doubts in her mind that Rebekah and Kol – once he was revived – would come back for her and Klaus and kill them. Or at least kill her and make him suffer.

With a determined face she stepped away from the barrier that was separating her from her friends, and moved resolutely back to Klaus' side. She looked at her friends embracing them with her blue eyes, pushing her tears away "Take care of my mom for me please" she had tried to stay strong when she had started talking but she was now overwhelmed by the emotions that came to her. The thought of her mother being left behind, alone, without Caroline to protect her. Her voice quivered and she looked away to hide the tears that now flowed freely from her eyes onto her cheeks. She would not make it more difficult than it already was for them. Bonnie had to save the others. It was the right thing to do.

"Caroline… I can't leave you behind…"

"Yes you can" Caroline said with force, "and you have to. Leave, all of you. Now. It's going to be fine. I'll be okay." She hoped she sounded convincing.

"You heard her, let's go Bonnie, before the witch changes her mind and leaves all of us to rot in this place" Damon said, and Caroline thought she saw regret and a newly formed respect in Damon's eyes when he looked up at her for what would undoubtedly be the last time.

Stefan looked shocked and when he tried to move to join Caroline, Damon grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Let go of me" Stefan spat. "You might be ready to leave a friend behind but I am not." He wrenched his arm away from his brother and turned back to meet up with Caroline but before he could, Damon flashed to face him and snapped his neck in a quick gesture. Stefan fell to the ground where Damon picked him up and shoved his baby brother over his shoulder before starting walking to the staircase.

Elena looked at Damon bewildered and after meeting his eyes she nodded and glanced back at Caroline with a sad but resolute expression.

Bonnie gave Klaus a hard look "Take care of her. You better protect her Klaus. Show us she was right to put her trust into you."

Klaus lifted his head, which seemed to cause him extreme pain. His eyes were bloodshot and hard as he looked at Bonnie, but his words were soft when he spoke "I will. I will always protect Caroline, with all I have." He turned his blue eyes to the blonde vampire and unspoken words flew between them as they smiled sweetly to one another.

Caroline gave Elena, Matt and Bonnie a brave smile as she watched them walk away. They kept glancing behind and she held their eyes until they were out of sight. She dropped to her knees and grabbed Klaus' hand in hers. A few seconds later, when he was finally freed from Qetsiyah's spell he reached for her and quickly pulled her to him. Caroline closed her eyes and finally relaxed in his arms. They were going to die. But at least, they would be together until the end.

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**A/N: What did you guys think? What would you like to see happen in the end. I have a good idea how I want to end this but it might change a little depending on your comment. I have put up a poll for this, please go and vote!**


	18. Chapter 18 - The Imprisonment

**A/N: Here's the full chapter. Don't forget to take the poll on my Profile page, and thank you to those who have already voted. Cheers!**

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Caroline was grabbing at Klaus' shirt with both force and grief. Yes she was willing to die for her friends but having to wait for the kill for what, a few hours? Days? Months maybe? Patience was not something she excelled at. Who knew how long it would take for Rebekah and Qetsiyah to find Silas and the Cure? Shane had never given them the location of the tomb, it could either be right next door or on the other side of the planet for all she knew.

Would she had preferred to be killed right here and then? Well she did not have a burning desire to die either but the thought of living the last hours of her life in fear and apprehension made her cringe.

She felt Klaus draw back from her and she reluctantly let go of his shirt and moved so they locked eyes once again in a heated exchange. His eyes were so intense on hers she had to look away. Deep down she was still a bit angry at him for wanting to hurt Elena but she had to remind herself that there was no more time for quibbling, there could still be a slight chance that they could find a way around this and escape from this place.

"Maybe the invisible walls have been taken away" she said. She didn't think Qetsiyah was that loyal to Kol and Rebekah. She probably cooperated with their plan until they got her to Silas, and she'd give them what they'd ask until they were rendered useless to her. After all, Qetsiyah had let Jeremy kill Kol. Surely if the witch had cared at all about the two Originals she would have done something to stop the young Hunter.

She felt Klaus let go of her arms and she flashed to where she had came across the wall a few minutes earlier. With her right hand extended in front of her she tried to feel for some resistance but she came across nothing. She turned around smiling broadly, "It's no longer there!"

Klaus got back on his feet and walked up to her, incredulous. He took her hand in his and tried the magical barrier holding his fingers, intertwined in Caroline's, to eye-level. Again the wall seemed to have disappeared. They took a few cautious steps and had almost reached the staircase when they finally felt the wall's presence again.

Caroline let out a desperate cry in frustration.

"How nice of Qetsiyah for giving us a little more breathing space" Klaus spat before turning around and smashing his fist in the nearest wall. He never thought he could hate someone more then he had hated his mother for her numerous betraying of him. Or his father -_ step-father _he corrected himself internally - for being so horrible to him, as if he had been the one to jump in bed with another man. He was not responsible for his mother's infidelity yet Mikael had always seemed to think otherwise.

Mikael... would he see him again now that Qetsiyah was bringing down the veil between the dead and living. How could Rebekah and Kol be so imprudent? Make a deal with a demented witch just to get back at him? They were signing their own death warrants and they seemed to be clueless about it.

"Maybe there is a window here we could break through..." Caroline said looking around the spacious room for the first time. She realized the place was actually pretty cozy and designed with taste. The floor was hard wood and there was a spacious leather sofa in the far end corner opposite them, almost as large as the rooms' width. There was one small window above it and she also noticed two doors facing one another on opposite walls indicating the entrance to two other rooms on this house level. She rushed to the sofa, climbed on it and tried to smash the glass with all her strength. Unfortunately she couldn't even scratch it. "What the...?"

"The windows in this house are unbreakable."

"Who's stupid idea was that?"

"Well you see Caroline, my family and I were on the hiding from our enemies back in the days. We did not want someone to be able to break in when we least expected it, like our father for instance. Any vampire, such as Mikael, could walk in this place easily since no humans lived in this house, so we had to take safety measures. Therefore the windows and doors are resistant to brute force."

"So basically what you are telling me is that nobody can break in to save us and we can't break out either?" Caroline said incredulously. "Very useful when you are trapped inside" she said nastily. Here came her impatience bursting out again.

"Let's just say we always made sure not to be in a situation where we would be trapped inside" Klaus replied calmly. He hadn't even moved from the spot she had let him at. He had crossed his arms across his chest and was looking at her go around the room looking for as much as a mouse hole she could squeeze in to run off to her friends.

Klaus had to admit he did not quite understand why they were both still alive. Surely if Rebekah and Kol had wanted them dead they would have killed Caroline and him when they had been on their knees under the witch's attack. At least that is what he would have done. No reason in letting the enemy regroup and prepare an attack of their own. After all if Mikael had ever taught something useful to him it was that the best defence was a great offence.

"How can you stay so calm!" Caroline blurted out. It infuriated her that he didn't even try to find a solution to their captivity. He ought to know they were in real trouble. They were going to die in a few hours at the earliest if they didn't try to find an exit of some sort.

Klaus looked at her, frowning. He was anything but calm. It had enraged him how pathetically useless he had been against Qetsiyah. How he had been ineffective at protecting Caroline from harm tonight. Qetsiyah had not chosen the right clan tonight, and she would soon find out. She had aggravated everything by adding insult to injury when she had forced him into the early stage of werewolf metamorphism. How dare she had used her magic on him. How dare she had attacked him. How dare she had attacked _his_ Caroline. He would find a way out of this, as he always did, and then she would pay, dearly.

"Oh believe me, love, calmness is far from everything I am feeling right now."

He moved swiftly to her in one quick motion, raised his hand to her face and stroked her cheek softly.

"You are so beautiful." He leaned in for the kiss but Caroline moved away before he could have a taste of her lips. He looked at her not understanding her rebuff.

"How can you think about kissing right now? We could die in a few hours!" Her cheeks were red and her brows creased displaying her discomfort.

"Exactly, we could die Caroline. Don't you want to spend the last hours of your life in my arms, experimenting emotions and sensations you have yet to feel" he brushed her arm with his hands and felt her shiver under his touch. Again he moved closer and this time she let him, "Do you realize you have the luxury to decide how you will spend your remaining living moments? What will you do with them Caroline?"

Caroline took the plunge, she grasped Klaus' shirt and pulled him to her, crashing her lips on his.

As he grabbed the small of her back to clutch her even closer to him, Caroline felt an electric storm start in her inside electrifying her. She raised both her arms and wrapped them around Klaus' neck, before she got pushed against the nearest wall with Klaus' body crashing against hers.

Klaus freed her lips from time to time, kissing her neck and making his tongue dance on Caroline's skin. Unlocking her arms from Klaus' neck, Caroline grabbed his face with both her hands. Her fingers brushing against his stubble brought her back to their heated altercation in her bedroom the night before. She whirled him around smashing him against the wall, this time taking control of the exchange. She gripped his shirt, ripped it off of him and made her fingers dance on his skin, and for once he was the one shivering at her touch. She went to unbutton his jeans but he took her hands into his looking at her intensely with his blue eyes burning through hers.

"Caroline" he moaned against her lips, his voice hoarse.

Klaus lifted her off her feet and she swiftly locked her legs around his hips, before he brought her to the sofa laying her on her back. His left hand entangled in her blonde hair, he resumed the kissing, determined to stay on top this time. He did not mind her taking charge of their passionate encounters but for this first time he wanted to show her just what she should expect from a true lover. His left hand slowly moved from her thigh, grabbing at her hips roughly and then he slowly made his fingers dance on her flat stomach before they moved up again, this time to her breast and with both his hands he lifted her arms on top of her head before his fingers skidded down to her neck. Caroline's body jolted as he pulled her upright in a sitting position before twirling her around so her back was against his bare chest.

He lifted her shirt up and his dead heart skipped a beat when her hair bounced off on his skin, the softness of her curls and their sweet scent made his head spin. His eyes went straight to the black-laced bra he had seen her pull out of her drawers the night before and he realized just how much reality met his imagination.

Klaus grabbed a handful of her blonde locks and turned her head aside to resume their kissing. His inner wolf got excited when Caroline's lips parted to grant his tongue access inside her mouth. They quickly started a battle for dominance as Caroline lifted one of her hands to his hair, playing with his sandy curls. With her other hand she grabbed his left hand, which fingers had been dancing on her belly, and brought it up to her chest. He did not need more encouragement and she was quickly undressed, her jeans landing on top of her t-shirt. Klaus' expert hands had a way of finding all her weak spots making Caroline breathe heavily and call his name out between sharp breaths.

* * *

Caroline had fallen asleep in Klaus' arms, completely exhausted and content. When she woke up she realized her lover had draped their naked bodies with a fluffy blanket that seemed to have materialized from nowhere. It looked like it was made of real fur and looked really expensive. She cuddled closer to Klaus' body enjoying the warmth of both his personal heat and the softness of the cloth on her bare skin. Klaus' hand that rested on her hip moved to her lower back and he pressed her against him as he turned to face her. She quickly realized he was ready for another go.

"Good morning my love" he said as their eyes met.

God his accent was sexy. They had made love for hours before she had had to forfeit. Klaus on the other hand had looked like he had plenty of energy left. He had chuckled at her request and had complied, but not before they had had another round.

Caroline had been somewhat grateful at Rebekah and Kol for not jumping in on them while they were so engrossed in their intimacy. But she was suddenly concerned of the time they had left to enjoy themselves. Klaus had been right they needed to live every second they had left at the fullest.

"How much time do you think has passed since the others left?" she asked.

Klaus brushed her cheek and kissed her lips softly. "Don't worry about that love, you have nothing to be concerned about."

As he leaned in for another kiss she pushed him away just enough so she could look at his face properly.

"What do you mean exactly?"

Frustrated at the mood change, Klaus reached for his cellphone which was resting on the pile of clothes next to the sofa. He handed it to Caroline before resuming the caresses on her skin. She couldn't help but wonder if he had been texting someone while she was asleep.

Caroline, with a great effort to not just throw the phone away and give Klaus a taste of his own medicine, scrolled through the phone's memory. She quickly came across text messages between him and Stefan.

"What's this?"

Without stopping his exploration of her body Klaus answered "I've been in contact with Stefan. Bonnie is tracking Rebekah's every move. They are somewhere in Canada, close to the Atlantic regions. Probably still looking for Silas' tomb."

"What?" she shrieked finally drawing Klaus' attention back to her. "Bonnie can't do that, if Qetsiyah finds out she's plotting against her she'll kill all of my friends. Why would you ask her to do something like that?"

"I haven't asked her to do anything" he objected frowning at her accusation. "Bonnie and your other friends are trying to find a way around the spell that is keeping us captive here." Before Caroline could object again Klaus stopped her "I told your friend that she shouldn't try anything foolish as you wouldn't be able to live with yourself or forgive me, if she endangered anybody for your sake but she reassured me. You see Caroline I realized I never gave your friends enough credit. When Bonnie swore to not interfere with Qetsiyah's plan to free Silas, she never actually agreed to anything having to do with Rebkah and Kol's part of the plan. Therefore she is not going against her oath to Qetsiyah. Bonnie told Stefan she thinks that once Silas is freed and Qetsiyah is brought back from the Other Side in her own body, the spell that she has cast on us will be severed, due to the fact that the witch she is possessing will undoubtedly die when Qetsiyah's soul is ripped away from hers. The invisible wall weakened Bonnie will be able to tear it down. Like I said you have nothing to worry about. You will not die on me Caroline, neither me nor your friends will let that happen."

Klaus felt Caroline relax under his touch and he started kissing her neck again making her sight with contempt. He always seemed to find the right spot wherever he was touching or kissing her, making her go weak in the knees. Of course he was a more experienced lover then she was as he probably had had thousands of women in his bed before her, but she was no innocent and frail virgin either. She had slept with a few men. She would show him the extent of her talents, as she now knew she would have plenty of time ahead of her to do that.

As he lifted her and moved her so she would ride him Caroline remembered a conversation she had had with Stefan a few weeks back. She remembered how the youngest Salvatore had been furious at Damon for giving his blood to Elena. He had told her that that gesture was very intimate between vampires and it was not to be taking lightly. Although Caroline had not mentioned that Klaus had giving her his blood willingly before, she had agreed Damon had wronged him. Then when she had been alone to think about her inner demons she had wondered if the Original knew how intimate that gesture was. Did he normally give his blood away so freely with others. _Probably not_, she thought. She knew he had shared it with Elena in the same way he had with her, which meant directly from the source, but it had been to gain some points with her.

Taking the decision quickly in between languorous movements of her hips, with her sharps nails she ripped open the soft skin above her collarbone, making beads of blood drip from it. She noticed Klaus' nostrils flare as he opened his eyes and dark veins encircled his eyes.

He looked bewildered at her offering, not sure what to make of it. She had seen his eyes darken earlier that night and he had undoubtedly suppressed the urges to bite her while they were making love, knowing full well a third werewolf bite might be deadly to her. Now she was giving him the opportunity to take her blood without harming her in the process. This was her gift to him.

"Quick before it heals" she encouraged him, her voice soft and determined. She trusted him. Completely.

Klaus quickly dove for the wound, holding her in his arms as he sucked the rich red liquid from her veins. His eyes glowed yellow as excitement reached extremes in his insides. Klaus' inner wolf howled with cheerfulness the moment Caroline bit his neck and started drinking from him as well. The sensations reached the highest level and for once in his life, he felt complete ecstasy in a woman's arms. He had never reached an orgasim this fast and of such great amplitude before in his life and he felt subdued by his blonde queen. Klaus grabbed Caroline face and kissed her feverishly; making her sight against his mouth and as drops of blood still spilled from both their lower lips they completely forgot about their surroundings and simply enjoyed themselves.

* * *

Her head resting against his chest, Caroline started to think about everything that had happened to her in the past few hours.

They had planned on taking down Rebekah and Kol before the two Originals tried another strike against Caroline and Klaus. Now that she thought about it, they had gotten inside their fortress way too easily. Granted that Bonnie was very powerful now but they should have anticipated more from thousands of years old vampires. She had circled the house with Elijah and Elena, and Tyler had jumped on them, catching them off-guard, before he got this close to killing Caroline's best friend.

"I can't believe Tyler is dead." she instantly felt Klaus' chest stiffen and she quickly continued her line of thoughts before he got the wrong idea. She lifted her head and looked at him seriously, "Don't act all macho and territorial; I'm just grieving for a lost friend. Before we became a couple, Tyler and I had become real close friends. I'll miss that relationship more than anything else."

Klaus relaxed but he still felt a pang of jealousy at the mention of Tyler's name. Of course he could never take away all the happy memories she had had with the guy but he would do anything in his power to overwrite them with memories of him and Caroline instead. He reached for her hand and intertwined his fingers with hers, before he leaned in and kissed her forehead softly.

"I'm sorry about Kol" she continued. When she realized he had no apparent intent to reply she tried to push him a little further to get him to open up, even if the voice in her head scolded her for pushing it too far. "I know he is annoying, careless and dangerous. And he tried to kill me and my friends a few times, but he was your brother Klaus. You do not choose your family members but the bond of blood is the strongest of all. In time I am sure you will learn to forgive him."

Klaus stroke her hair gently "Your goodness is remarkable Caroline, but I do not have such ability to forget and forgive. I will make Kol pay, should he ever come back from the dead. He will never go against me or the ones I love. Ever again."

Although he hadn't exactly told her he loved her, his last words made Caroline's dead heart beat wildly against her rib cage.

They both jumped at the sound of Klaus' phone ring. Caroline squirmed away from him and got up on her feet before she grabbed her clothes and started to dress herself up.

"Stefan." Klaus said, taking in every single movement she made. His hand was itching for something to draw with.

"Klaus, Rebekah is on her way back. She is at about two hours from your old house. Elijah, Damon, Bonnie and I are on our way as well, we came up with a plan I think you will like."

Klaus looked at Caroline. She still looked nervous, probably fed up with their continuous bad luck in the past.

"We're listening, mate."

Caroline was sitting on the sofa, her legs folded under her. She had fixed her hair in a high ponytail and was seemingly dozing off when Rebekah stepped inside the room. She scrutinized every corner of the area looking for Klaus but she couldn't see him.

"Where's Niklaus?"

Caroline snapped her head in Rebekah's way, feigning surprise.

"I don't know… Are you here to kill me at last?"

Rebekah flashed to Caroline's side and gripping the youngest vampire's neck she lifted her above the ground "WHERE IS NIKLAUS!"

"Rebekah, it's all good the place is clear. The Scooby gang are not dumb enough to risk their lives for their Barbie friend" Kol said coming quickly down the stairs. As he noticed Caroline's precarious position he smiled wickedly at her. "Having a bit of a struggle aren't we?"

"Somehow I hoped you'd remain dead" Caroline managed to breathe.

"Well consider me saddened" he laughed.

"Enough! Where's Niklaus!"

"Well someone is certainly cranky" Caroline said. She knew she was playing a dangerous game yet she had the feeling they would wait until Klaus was there before killing her, of course they would not have a problem at making her suffer until he'd decide to show up. "He went into that room the moment you left with Qetsiyah" she said nodding at the door on her right. "He was mumbling about Mikael and Esther coming back. It took so much out of him to kill them I think the poor guy snapped. I called him ever since but he doesn't answer."

Kol scoffed at her comment and went for the doorknob. Before he opened it though, he turned around giving Caroline an evil smile. "And now the fun begins" he said before pulling on the handle.

_I couldn't have said it better, pal,_ Caroline thought.

* * *

**A/N: so it was not as explicit as I thought it would be and I'm not very good at this kind of stuff, so I hope it wasn't all weird written and hard to follow... anyway, will try to update in the next few days. Thank you all so much for your comments, I love you all.**


	19. Chapter 19 - The Cure

**A/N: Hi guys, this is the second to last chapter of this story before i begin my other fanfiction.**

* * *

When Kol pulled the door opened, he was quickly tackled by a huge white wolf. The impact threw them both on the ground, the canine's strong forelegs holding Kol down by force. The wolf's long fangs were merely an inch from the vampire's throat, as Kol could barely manage to keep Klaus at bay.

Caroline took advantage of the Originals' surprise and flashed a punch in Rebekah's face, throwing Klaus' sister a few feet away.

Suddenly the other room's door opened and out came Damon and Stefan, the two brothers joined force pushing Rebekah to the nearest wall. They both held out wooden stakes and stabbed the blonde Original in each of her shoulders, pushing the wooden stake so far, they engraved them into the walls nailing Rebekah in place.

Bonnie and Elijah quickly joined the others, the witch's hair went flying around her face as she chanted incantations meant to desiccate the two immortals, the same way her mother had done Mikael and she had herself dried Klaus of his life force not long ago.

Feeling his strengths starting to leave him and his skin starting to dry out Kol started to panic, "Wait!" he cried out.

"Save your breath" Damon snapped, keeping a hold on one of Rebekah's shoulder. The blonde Original was clawing at them, screaming for the Salvatores to let her go.

She even kicked Damon in the shin, where he could now feel the bone mending itself back to its original state. Stefan had not been spared in the fight as Damon could see a deep gash on his brother's forearm and blood spilling freely from the wound. Obviously whatever his baby brother had said about being strong enough for the job, he had been lying. What was he trying to do, get killed? Like hell he would!

Now was the time for Bonnie to hurry up with the spell and work fast or they would quickly lose the advantage, unless Elijah decided to actually help them. He had said he would provide his aid, but so far he had kept his distance, arms crossed, watching the show. Caroline on the other hand had moved closer to Klaus holding a wooden stake she had retrieved from the back of her jeans, the one Stefan had handed her when her friends had arrived a few minutes earlier.

Kol gave Damon an arrogant mile, even while fighting a giant wolf he managed to irritate them with his cockiness, "Well I'm sure Caroline would like to know about this" he said.

Caroline frowned giving Kol the evil eye. _What did he mean by that?_

"Have you talked to your mom recently, sugar?"

Caroline's face fell, the colour drained from it completely. "What did you do to my mom?" She looked in panic at Stefan who looked back at her with concern.

Bonnie stopped chanting sensing her friend's agitation. Something was wrong.

"You're bluffing" Damon said. We saw Liz a few hours ago she was fine" looking at Caroline meaningfully he added "she's fine Caroline, the punk's only trying to make you freak."

Wolf Klaus let out a low growl snapping his jaw at Kol.

"Bonnie do the spell, Stefan and I could use a hand here" Damon called out.

"Oh sure call my bluff, kill me or whatever, but just keep in mind that this town's dear old sheriff will feel every single blow you will throw my way. Hell maybe I should let my dear brother here tear my head off and we'll see if your dear mother survives, shall we Caroline?" Kol let go of his grip on the wolf's neck and Klaus got ready for the dive.

"Klaus stop!" Caroline cried out.

The wolf hesitated long enough for Kol to snap its head and Klaus fell to the ground with a thud.

"Smart move" Kol told her as he got back on his feet, brushing the dirt off his jeans. "You see when I died, I went to this Other Side Qetsiyah was not so fond of. In other words, I became a ghost and started haunting the place where I died... so I spied on you two love birds' reunion. I must say I understand now why my brother had his eyes on you from the moment he saw you, you are quite the looker" he said, winking at her. "I'm sure your friend Tyler would agree to me saying you are quite the loose woman, Caroline."

Caroline blushed heavily "Go to hell" she spat.

Kol had been spying on them, watching Klaus and her make love. He had probably laughed at them when they discussed the inevitability of their death. He had taken in their every move, listening to every word they exchanged.

"You knew" she breathed.

Too late she was realizing their mistake, Kol had known all along about their plan. How else could he have stopped klaus from tearing him to limbs. He had anticipated the attack, there was no other explanation. No vampire, Original or not, would have been able to stop the Original Hybrid. They weren't as fast as Klaus was. Then if he knew and came back to the house with Rebekah, that meant he had secured their backs some way. They had leverage, and now because of her, her mother was in danger.

"What did you do to my mom?"

"Not such a dumb blonde after all" he smiled before flashing to her. He was stopped midway by a wall of steal and he lifted his eyes to see his brother Elijah's brown ones looking back at him.

"I think our mother spoiled you the most when we were little, and she forgot to teach you some manners" Elijah said before punching Kol square in the face, sending his younger brother flying across the room. His head hit the floor with a sickening crack.

"No!" Caroline cried. She couldn't take the risk of endangering her mother's life, even if she herself wanted to kick Kol's ass more then ever.

Kol got back up lifting a hand to the back of his head and drawing it back with blood all over it.

"Poor mom would have felt that by now" he said giving Caroline a wicked smile.

Bonnie who hadn't resumed her incantations in fear of hurting Caroline's mom, looked at Stefan and Damon who were now struggling at keeping Rebekah against the wall. The blonde Original was starting get the upper hand on the two Salvatores and, with Klaus out for at least a few more minutes they would be outnumbered one Original against two.

"Elijah, a hand here would be much appreciated" Damon called out.

"What makes you think I'm not linked to her mother as well?" Rebekah cried out.

"'Cause you're a desperate neurotic bitch" Damon replied.

"More like because you can only link two souls and bodies together, not more. So if what Kol says is true, it's either him or Rebekah that is linked to Mrs Forbes" Bonnie intervened "not the two of them."

Caroline had taken her phone out and had been trying to call her mother's cellphone, office telephone number and their house's but had gotten no response from either ones. She was starting to panic. Her mother was either bleeding to death, two huge gaps in both her shoulders or she had a cracked skull and possibly a concussion. Either way they needed to help her or she would die from those injuries.

She tried another phone call and this time there was an answer.

"Matt! I need you to do me a favour and check up on my mom" she said, unable to help herself from crying, she didn't care if she sounded hysterical she absolutely needed to know what was going on with her mother. Matt hastily agreed, eager to redeem himself after his last actions, and they hung up after she told him where to look at this time to find her mom.

"Great now what do we do?" Damon said feeling his strengths leave him. Why was it that every time they planned something, it NEVER went as it was meant to, and they always ended up being the ones pushed against the wall.

"Now you two let go of Rebekah and let's gather over here" Bonnie said walking to stand by Klaus' body, she bent down to take the wolf's vital signs. Bonnie gave Caroline a reassuring smile and the blonde vampire flashed next to her friend and she instantly felt a warm veil surround her.

Damon and Stefan looked at each other before nodding and vampire speed up to the girls. Elijah held his ground and pushed both Kol and Rebekah away as soon as they tried to attack the others, before he too joined the others. Bonnie quickly expanded her powers, going from a protective veil around her friends and allies, to a magical cage imprisoning Kol and Rebekah in two separate invisible bubbles.

"Let me out!" Rebekah shouted, pounding on the invisible walls around her.

"I have your friend Qetsiyah to thank for this new trick" Bonnie said smiling brightly at the two Originals. "We wouldn't want you two to run off and kill people we love, now would we."

Klaus regained consciousness and swiftly got back on his four legs. He moved to nudge Caroline's free hand and gave her an apologetic look.

Without looking down at him she murmured to herself "she'll be okay, she'll be fine" over and over again.

Klaus ran for the room he had came out of earlier, and came out a minute later in human form barefoot only wearing his jeans. He took Caroline's hand and this time forced her to look at him, holding her chin.

Her blues eyes were filled with tears and she let herself fall against Klaus' chest holding on to him tightly. Klaus said nothing and only held her back with equal force, stroking at her hair. His instincts were telling him to jump on his brother and sister and rip their bodies limb by limb, but he could not do that, at least not until he knew it was safe for him to kill them without killing Caroline's mother. Even if he hadn't gotten along with Elizabeth Forbes, she was Caroline's mom, and she loved her. She was the most important human being in Caroline's life and he would do anything to keep her alive if it meant Caroline's happiness.

He gently pushed Caroline aside and walked to the limit of Kol's bubble, this time he was the one smiling.

"So why don't you two start talking about this plan of yours? You wanted to give me the Cure is it? Trying to make me a defenceless human so you could finally have a chance at killing me?"

"More like getting a chance at seeing you without that arrogant smile on your face" Rebekah spat.

Klaus walked up to her and smiled at her, knowing full well it would infuriate his baby sister.

"Well I guess you will never see that happening in this lifetime" he replied.

"Don't get too confident brother, we still have a few tricks up our sleeves" Kol said. Grabbing his left arm with his right hand he roughly pulled it down, dislocating his arm from its socket. He cried out from the pain and fell on his knees.

"Stop it please!" Caroline screamed.

Looking up, Kol gave Caroline an evil smile. He then turned his gaze to Klaus "We might not be able to attack you but I can make your girlfriend suffer. Or should I say, make her mother suffer."

"Stop it Kol please" Caroline cried. Stefan was holding her shoulders so she wouldn't run to the Original and endanger herself.

"Caroline, calm down. Matt is on his way to your mother right now he'll give you a call as soon as he finds her."

"Ah yes" Kol intervened "but will good old Liz still be alive when he does?"

He reached for his heart, inserting his hand into his chest pushing through his flesh to reach the organ.

Time froze in Caroline's head surely Kol was not serious. Was he actually ready to kill himself just to get at her? Of course with the veil opened there was nothing preventing him from coming back from the dead again.

Panicked she looked at Rebekah who also seemed to be taken back by her brother's actions. And that is when Caroline realized that it had really been Kol who had made the deal with Qetsiyah. He was the one who's life was bonded to her mother's. Rebekah would never kill herself just for the satisfaction of getting back at her brother, even if in the end she'd be resuscitated.

Caroline managed to get away from Stefan and ran for Kol but was intercepted by Klaus' strong arms keeping her in place.

"Caroline."

"Klaus it's him, he's bonded his life to my mother's, it's not Rebekah. We can't let him do this!"

Klaus looked at her blue eyes filled with tears. He wanted to tell her to calm down. To get Damon or Elijah to get her away from this place.

He wanted to kill his brother and sister for what they had made them endure over the past few months. There was nothing more he wanted right now then to drag the White Oak stake through Kol's chest to wipe off that cocky smile from his face.

But the moment his eyes met Caroline's, all his resolutions were drowned. She would never forgive him for letting her mother get tortured and killed because of his sick needs for revenge.

And right then, he knew what he needed to do.

If Kol and Rebekah finally got what they had worked so hard for, they would need to let her go. They would leave Caroline alone and let her live her life as she was meant to. She would go to her graduation and then leave town to go to college. She would have a beautiful and full life, and he would be by her side.

Klaus knew what he was about to do was against every single action towards self preservation he had taken through the thousands of years of his life. For some reason Caroline always made him take a different road that he would of had before. Maybe her light was piercing through his own darkness. Maybe she was right and he was displaying parts of his humanity when he was with her. Then this time he would be doing more than showing parts of it.

This time he would become human _for_ her.

Klaus nodded for Elijah to grab ahold of Caroline and then turned to look at Kol.

"There is no need for you to do this Kol" he started.

"Trying to sweet talk me out of it now are you?" Kol asked. "She is smart you know she understood quickly I was the one with her mother's life in my hands."

He started pulling at his heart but Klaus moved quickly grabbing his arm, maintaining it in place.

"Give me the Cure" he said.

Everyone held their breath.

"What?" Rebekah couldn't believe her ears.

"Klaus..."

"Niklaus, you can't..." Elijah started.

"Klaus if you do this there will be no coming back" Bonnie warned him.

Of all the voices Caroline's small voice was the only one he heard. The plea in it made his dead heart swoon. Yet for once in his life he would do the unselfish thing. With his free hand Klaus held his palm up waiting for Kol to give him the vial. He knew his brother had it because Kol would never had trusted their sister with it.

"Why should I trust you to take it willingly? What tells me you won't just take it and run to your _friends_ with it."

"You have my word Kol" Klaus simply replied. "But in return I will ask a favour of you. You will give me your word that you will let Caroline out of our family quarrels. And you and Rebekah will help protect her should she come across any future harm as I will no longer be able to do it myself."

Kol looked like he weighted his options before he finally let go of the grip he had on his heart and held out his bloody hand for Klaus to shake the deal off.

Caroline's head was in a haze and she couldn't quite understand what Klaus was agreeing to and she absentmindedly looked up at Klaus as he took his youngest brother's hand without blinking.

Kol withdrew his hand and wiped it clean before reaching for his back pocket to retrieve a small vial that he held out with ceremony between his thumb and pointing finger.

"Shall I feed it to you or will you do it yourself?" he asked Klaus with a crooked smile.

Klaus ripped it off his hand and looked up at Caroline, hoping she would understand how big of a sacrifice he was willing to take in order to certify her safety.

Klaus took a deep breath. He had been right to say love was a man's greatest weakness. Out of love, he was willing to sacrifice everything he had worked for for a thousand years. He would willingly give his immortality away to guarantee Caroline's protection when he wouldn't be able to do it himself.

He looked intensively at the vial in his hand. Would it make him a human again? Would his werewolf genes be preserved in the transformation?

He still had the possibility to just crush the vial and go against his word. That on the other hand would lead to Caroline mother's death and the eternal vengeance of his siblings against Caroline and him.

Defeated, Klaus put the vial in his mouth and closed his eyes on the world as he had known for centuries.


	20. Chapter 20 - The End?

**A/N: Okay guys, here's the last chapter! oh my god thank you all for your reviews/comments and for favoriting this story. I hope you'll like this chapter as much as you did the others. **

**Enjoy, and I might see you all in my next fanfic!**

* * *

As Klaus got ready to bite into the Cure's core, a sudden cry of pain coming from his youngest brother surprised him so, that, taken aback, he quickly opened his eyes and swiftly spit the vial out. Apparently their agreement was now irrelevant.

Kol was bent over holding a hand up to his chest; his face was contorted, displaying a mask of intense pain. As he withdrew his hand, they all witnessed fresh blood spread all over it.

"No!" Caroline yelled, grabbing her phone and calling Matt's number.

"Caroline" Matt answered after the first ring in a hushed voice. "I... I think you need to come to the Mayor's house. Now"

"What happened, Matt?" Caroline was ready to head out the door the moment she saw Kol fall, face first, on the ground.

"Kol!" Rebekah cried out. She tried to reach for her brother but her magical prison was keeping her in place. "Let me out witch!"

"I will certainly not" Bonnie replied. "Is this another one of your tricks?"

Elijah had moved to his young brother's body and turned Kol around so he would lay on his back. It was then clear to all of them that Kol was dead once again. This was a certainty not only because of the grey colour his skin had taken, but when Elijah ripped opened the Original's shirt, they all saw the five bullet holes in his chest and the sickening green colour the veins had taken around the wounds. The hole he had himself dug to his heart a few minutes earlier had already been healed before these injuries had occurred, and there was nothing left of it behind.

Klaus moved to Elijah's side and sniffed the air around them. His intuitions were right. The bullet that had killed him had werewolf venom in them. And yet, there were no actual bullets in his brother's body which could only mean one thing; that this death was the consequence of the witch's spell linking the sheriff's – Caroline's mother - life to Kol's.

Elizabeth Forbes was dead, lying somewhere – the Mayor's house according to the busboy – her skin pierced by five poisoned bullets.

He realized how close he had come to giving away his immortality for nothing. Would he have engulfed the Cure a few seconds earlier; he would now be human and Caroline would still be left without a mother.

Although he was relieved by this, he had to ask himself why.

Why would someone not only kill the town's sheriff, but do it with weapons meant for killing vampires?

Caroline seemed to have come to the same conclusion as she raced to the base of the staircase and blurred up the stairs.

Klaus turned to look at Bonnie "Keep them locked down here. Don't desiccate them. Not yet. If Kol comes back from the dead again I want him to be stuck here instead of running around town. Once you're done with them, make your way to your father's house, I believe Caroline will need your support there."

"What? Why?"

"It's important. Just do it."

The seriousness in his voice made her uncomfortable and she nodded not willing to argue with him.

"Klaus don't leave me here" Rebekah called him when she saw he was heading for the stairs. He turned to look at her and noticed her face was bathed with tears. He was instantly brought back to their childhood days when he would have picked up a fight with any boy around their small town who would have made her cry like this.

He walked up to the magical wall's limit and threw the Cure up in her face.

"There, take it, you want it for yourself, now, don't you. So go ahead, be the pathetic human you so desperately want to be. You had never meant for me to take it did you. Deep down you wished to take it and start a new life, this being another one of your impulsive wishes. Then go ahead, take it. But for the record, you and I are through. I will no longer call you my sister. You are a stranger to me, another potential victim. And if our ways ever cross again in the future, you better run because I will make it my goal to make you regret you ever threatened me and Caroline. Do you understand?"

"What about always looking out for me and always be there for me?" she cried between sobs.

Klaus took a step and got so close their noses almost touched.

"After knowing me for all these years, you really believed that?"

He moved back before her hand could make contact with his face "I'm off to find Caroline before she makes it to the Mayor's house" he said to Elijah.

He then looked at Stefan "I could use your help, mate. Caroline trusts you and looks out to you, she might need you there as well."

"What, the almighty Klaus asks for our help?" Damon asked sarcastically.

"Let's just say that I care enough about Caroline to swallow my pride for once" he said before flashing off to the stairs, Stefan following his lead.

Damon gave Rebekah a mocking glare, before turning his attention back to Bonnie, "Well Bonnie, it's time for some hocus pocus again. I think you could probably make their bubbly prisons a little smaller. We wouldn't want them to get too cozy in there while we're out."

Rebekah gave Elijah a pleading look before she sensed the prison around her shift closer to her body. She looked at the Cure in her hand debating if she should take it or not. It was now or never.

* * *

Caroline was speeding through the forest making her way back to Mystic Falls as fast as she could. She came out of the edge of the forest and onto a populated street. The night sky made it easy for her to speed by houses and remain undetected.

She had to stop for a few seconds to try and recall what way they had took when they had taken to Stefan and the other's rescue ,what seemed like years ago. So much had happened since then.

She pushed her tears away, trying her best to keep her head focussed on the road ahead. She refused to believe what her heart had already recognized; the indisputable hollowness left only by a loved one's departure.

Caroline heard footsteps coming from behind her and she spun around quickly, ready to attack her stalker, before she realized it was no one other than Klaus.

Klaus stopped in front of her and they both looked at one another, standing in the middle of the road, both out of breath from the run and the overwhelming emotions taking over them.

"Caroline…" he started, taking a step closer to her.

"Don't…" she said, cutting him off. She raised her hands as if it could protect her from his words "She's not dead" she said before she started crying again.

"Sweetheart" he said. He didn't know how to act in these situations. He wasn't good with other people's grief and hers especially as it always made him feel things he'd have preferred stayed hidden in the debts of his heart like compassion and sadness. Her denial was making him uncomfortable "You said yourself that Kol was the one whose life was now linked to your mother's. Mere bullets, even if they had been dipped in werewolf blood, would not have killed him, they don't kill Originals. The only explanation for his death is that the other person's life, to which he was bonded, has ended."

"No! You're wrong!" Caroline cried out before she ran at him and started throwing punches at his chest.

Her attack had no physical effect on him and he let her take her rage out on him. He realized he hadn't used the right words with the blonde vampire and had only triggered an even more violent reaction from her. He grabbed her wrists lightly but firmly and stared into her eyes "Caroline, please calm down…"

He didn't use compulsion on her as he knew that it wouldn't do any good, not in the emotional state she was in.

Caroline looked back at him, her eyes glistening, and finally stopped her rampage. She started shacking and she finally let him pull her to him in a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry, love." He said stroking her hair, as he genuinely was sorry for her loss.

Stefan caught up with them just then. He waited for his blonde friend to calm down before he spoke, extended his hand for her to take: "Let's go find your mom Caroline" he said gently.

She smiled sadly at him and they all sped up to reach Mystic Falls.

* * *

They arrived at the Bennett's house and they immediately felt concerned that all the lights in the house were out.

"This is the Mayor's house?" Klaus asked. He had pictured it a much bigger. Mayors were the chiefs of towns – except for the ones he lived in where he was the law – they should have the biggest, most expensive manors of all, not a regular two-story house like this one.

He noticed Caroline making her way to the front door and he ran to stop her from grabbing the door's handle. He swept her off her feet, putting a hand on her mouth to silence her protests and spun her around.

"Shhh. Whomever attached this place is still here" he whispered, his lips close to her ear.

Caroline tensed up. If the people who attacked her mom were still in the house she would make sure to make them suffer.

Stefan looked at the handle attentively "There is something spread on it" he pointed.

"Werewolf venom" Klaus replied keeping a close eye on Caroline. He knew her need for revenge must be overwhelming for her to resist at the moment. He was looking forward to seeing her in action but would be sure to supervise her actions in there so she wouldn't endanger her life.

"I know a way inside the house the assailants would not know of" Caroline said feeling anxious with every second that past. While they were chatting her mom could be in danger. What were they waiting for?

Klaus looked at her as if debating to trust her word or not. He finally nodded for her to lead the way and they walked around the house, hiding in the shadows surrounding the building. Caroline pointed at one of the yard's biggest tree, where a tree house had been built. It had been painted in what was now the ugliest washed up sickening pink colour he had ever seen.

"Nice Barbie house" Klaus pointed, sarcastically.

"We were twelve!" Caroline sighted, nostalgically, for a second there she was brought back to her childhood. "There's a way inside Bonnie's room through the Tree house. We used to sneak out at night on our sleepovers here. We would tell ghost stories and fall asleep on the floor where Bonnie's dad always found us the next morning."

She climbed up the wooden boards leading her up the tree and waited for the boys to meet up with her.

Klaus and Stefan quickly followed her lead and they crunched down inside the house due of the low ceiling. They noticed Caroline was already crawling on a thick branch leading to the Bennett's house lower roof where a window providing access to a small bedroom was visible.

The window was cracked open and Caroline noiselessly jerked it ajar before she sidled inside.

Stefan made his way inside Bonnie's room and joined Caroline at the bedroom's door listening in for any noise coming from other rooms inside the house. The moment Klaus tried to sneak inside as well he was blocked by an invisible barrier.

Stefan and Caroline both turned to look at him quizzically and his frustrated expression reminded them that he had never been invited inside before and wouldn't be able to join them, at least until Bonnie came back from the old Mikaelson's property.

Klaus' blood was boiling. He wanted to call them back, unwilling to let Caroline inside the house while there was still a threat inside, especially when that menace had werewolf venom at hand. Yet her determined expression was proof enough that she would not leave without her mother.

Klaus gave Stefan a warning look. If anything happened to her, the young Salvatore would have him to answer to. The Original Hybrid drew back and jumped down the roof onto the grass before starting to sneak close to the house trying to find were the enemy was hiding within these walls. He would need to wait for Damon and Bonnie to arrive before he could run inside and go about with his ruckus.

* * *

Caroline listened closely for any heart beat coming from the second floors' room and quickly picked two up, coming from a room right across from Bonnie's. Stefan and she flashed to the room's door but before she went inside she took out her cellphone and dialled Matt's cellphone number. If he was still inside the house she would know.

No ringing sound came to her ear but she heard Matt`s voice coming from the room they were now facing. He swore when his cellphone started buzzing and closed it, ignoring the call, either because he was under surveillance or because he did not want to be found by the enemy. Either way, Caroline had to get inside that room now.

She opened the door and they cautiously walked in, on the look-out for any possible threats. Seeing as the room seemed empty they walked to the large walk-in where the sound of the two heartbeats were coming from. Stefan went ahead of her and reached for the handle before Matt busted out the door with a baseball bat and tried to hit him with it but Stefan easily dodged the blow. Realizing it was his friends, Matt looked reassured.

Caroline noticed Mr. Hopkins, Bonnie's father, collapsed on the floor, his hand pressing against his rib-cage where blood was gushing out of a nasty-looking wound. The smell of blood and the level of adrenaline pumping through her veins made her vampire features stand out, and she hastily looked away as the black veins around her eyes stood out and her fangs started elongating.

She had quickly realized her mother was not in this room which meant that she was probably on the first floor, just below them. She listened intently and was about to rush out of the room when Stefan caught her arm.

"You are not going down there alone" he said in a hushed voice.

She frowned deeply "I need to find her" she simply replied. She had picked up two other heartbeats coming from below them and her hopes had gone up again. Maybe her mother was down there waiting for Caroline to save her.

"They're dangerous Caroline" Matt intervened. "When I got here your mom was talking with Mr. Hopkins and she started complaining about a huge headache and she had almost backed out when we noticed a big wound on the back of her head. Two seconds later these freaks busted through the front door and attacked Mr. Hopkins and your mother. Your mom was already… There was blood everywhere… I was only able to save Mr. Hopkins but we couldn't get out and we've been hiding in here ever since."

"Who are_ they_?" Caroline growled. Matt's words scared her… her mom was already what? Her head was screaming the word top her and she feared to even think about the possibility...

"Two Hunters and former council members" Matt answered. "They're back from the dead and they are here to get their revenge on everyone. The council members attacked the Mayor and your mom, accusing them of being a disgrace to their functions. That instead of ridding the town of the vampires and werewolves they have embraced their co-habitation with the people of this town. The Council members left a few minutes ago and said they had other people to visit."

"So Pastor Young was the one who attacked my mom?" Caroline asked incredulously. She remembered the old man who had died not long ago, how could a religious man attack an innocent woman?

"It wasn't April's father" Matt said. "I did not recognize them, they were not from this time; one of them was called Johnathan."

"Johnathan? As in Johnathan Gilbert?" Stefan asked, surprised.

"I don't know… You mean that man could have been Elena's ancestor from over a hundred years ago?" Matt asked.

Stefan pondered this for a few seconds but now they were facing an even more pressing problem at the moment.

"You mentioned that there were Hunters with them, which ones were you referring to?" Stefan asked. "I can sense two people downstairs."

"It's that Connor guy and another dude with long black hair" Matt answered. "That one creeps me out. They said they were looking for Silas and Qetsiyah. That they knew that Bonnie was a descendant of the Witch and that she would know how to find Qetsiyah. So they decided to stick around and wait for her to come home. "

Stefan took out his phone and dialled Bonnie's number but got no answer. He then called Klaus.

"What is going on in there?" the Original Hybrid asked, still unhappy to have been left outside.

"We have two Hunters inside that are waiting for Bonnie, we can't have her come back here. Tell her we'll take care of her father and that she needs to hide someplace safe."

"That witch is my only ticket inside this house; I need her to let me in. I will take care of the Hunters" Klaus replied adamantly.

"Don't endanger my friend's life for ours, Klaus" Caroline shot back as she stood next to Stefan.

"Don't worry, love, I'll make sure she gets in and out without a scratch" and he hung up.

"Okay Matt, if you go to Bonnie's room you'll be able to leave with Mr. Hopkins, safely. We'll take it from here."

"But they have weapons that could kill you" Matt insisted "You can't go down there."

"Don't worry about us, just get Bonnie's dad out of here" Caroline said. She walked to the Mayor and crouched down to be at eye level with him "Can you stand up?" she asked him.

"Caroline… Liz, she's…"

"Don't worry about it. Are you able to walk?" Caroline cut him off. She did not want to hear it.

"I… yes."

"Good" She bit into her wrist and coaxed him to drink up so his injuries would heal faster. Once he did, she turned to look at Matt "Then it's settled, you need to leave. Now. Whatever happens, don't come back. And Matt…" she said and he looked at her quizzically, "thank you, for everything."

She ran up to him and fiercely hugged him before planting a kiss on his cheek.

Matt unwillingly left the room with Bonnie's father, giving his friends one last look before he entered Bonnie's room and closed the door behind them.

* * *

Klaus was pacing around the garden like a lion stuck in a cage. He was listening for any sign of Damon and Bonnie's arrival. They should have been back here by now.

He heard some noise above him and looked up to see Matt and the new Mayor crawl on the tree branch leading to the Tree House.

As they got back on the ground Matt gave Klaus an uncertain look, not sure if he should trust him or not.

Klaus just looked back at him. He then noticed Caroline's scent hovering in the air and saw the Mayor's bloody shirt.

Concerned, he looked at Matt "Is she okay?"

Matt just looked back at him brows furrowed "You better make it so she comes out of there alive" he replied before heading for his pickup truck. "Tell them we'll go to my place, no one will be looking for us there."

Klaus rushed to them and stood in front of Bonnie`s father "Before you leave gentlemen, I need to get inside this house, and you will help me."

* * *

Caroline and Stefan sneakily made their way to the top of the stairs where they could hear the two Hunters walking around in the living room.

"…while we're sitting around here waiting! Silas could be making hundreds of innocent victims. We need to get the Cure and we need to kill him."

"Calm down Alexander" Stefan recognized Connor's voice and he had to restrain himself from running down there to rip his head off. He wasn't sure how he would get rid of the two Hunters without killing them and being stuck with the Hunter's curse afterwards, but he would need to find a way. He knew Connor would seek revenge on Elena at some point, and although it was now clear to him that Elena was in love with Damon, he would always protect her. No matter what.

"We need to strategize our next steps. I've contacted other Hunters that returned from the Other Side and they had nothing to report but they are keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. Once the Bennett witch arrives, we'll get the answers to our questions" Connor finished.

There was a pause before Alexander spoke again.

"As you wish, but for now what do we do with the woman's body?"

Caroline flew down the stairs before Stefan even had the chance to react and stop her. She raced to the living room and there, her heart sank.

On the floor, next to the fireplace, her mother's lifeless body was sprawled across the floor, a pool of blood formed beneath her.

Filled with a renewed rage, Caroline tackled the man closest to her mother's body so hard they both slammed into the nearest wall, sending pieces of plaster around them.

Her fangs were so long they almost pierced through her lower lip when she bit down on the man called Alexander's neck, so rapidly he did not have a chance to react.

Stefan rushed to her aid, throwing Connor to the closest wall before the black man had a chance to aim his shotgun at Caroline. All fangs out Stefan pinned Connor down preventing the Hunter from getting back on his feet.

Completely unaware of Stefan's struggle with the other man, Caroline was delighting herself with Alexander's blood. It had been such a long time since she had had a taste of human blood fresh from the veins. It was exhilarating.

She suddenly felt herself being lifted up and pulled away from her victim before she was dragged outside the house and back on the front lawn. She was finally released from her snatcher, as she turned around to find his identity she was face to face with Klaus, his own features reflecting the same rage she felt.

"I'm going back in there to finish him off" she snapped at him.

Stefan ran out the house and met up with them just as Caroline tried to pass by Klaus but was stopped when the Original caught her arm roughly.

"You are not going back in there" he cut her off.

"I don't remember asking your permission" she spat, "and since when are you against someone taking the bloody way to satisfy their needs for revenge?"

"I would have no problem with you killing this whole town if I knew you took pleasure in bloodshed and violence, but this is not you Caroline. And if I understood what your friend Matt said, these Hunters, although they are a nuisance, are not the culprit you should aim your anger at" he growled.

"He's right Caroline" Stefan stepped in, as he noticed she was about to argue.

"I'm not afraid of them" Caroline yelled. "They provided the weapons that killed my mother, they are as guilty as the ones who pulled the trigger."

Just then a faint whooshing sound came from close by and Klaus was quick enough to catch the wooden stake mid-air before it lodged itself in Caroline's heart.

They turned to face the two Hunters who were now standing on the porch.

Connor held a crossbow aimed at Caroline and Klaus recognized the Hunter sword in Alexander's hands, as the street lights glistened off its blade. Luckily the houses around the Bennett's were deserted for the night as the inhabitants must have went out on a trip.

"We meet again vampire" Alexander said looking directly at Klaus.

"You will quickly find out that a lot has changed since our last encounter, mate" Klaus said, before flashing between the two Hunters, smashing Connor's skull against the concrete – rending him unconscious - and braking Alexander's right arm in one swift move.

The Hunter yelled in pain and dropped the sword before Klaus reached through Alexander's chest and squeezed his heart "How many times will I have to kill you, Hunter?"

"The... Hybrid" Alexander moaned before his head was cut off his shoulders and it rolled down to Klaus' feet.

Bewildered, Klaus let go of the man's body and looked at Caroline in shock. She had snatched the Hunter's sword and sneakily made her way behind Alexander. Before Klaus could kill the Hunter himself, she had done what she had said she would. She had finished him off, but with what consequences.

"Caroline..."

Stefan was equally shocked at his friend's bold move.

"He needed to pay" she simply said before dropping the sword to the ground.

"Caroline, love, you realize that you will now face the Hunter's Curse for having killed one of the Five" Klaus said, concerned. He knew how terrible it would be for the young woman.

"You were about to do it yourself" she simply pointed out. She looked at Connor before adding "You almost killed that one."

"Almost, yes. Now he will most likely die from the injury I caused and yet I will not be condemned by the Curse because I did not technically kill him. Alexander on the other hand" he looked at the beheaded body at his feet "well you quite killed him."

"So I'll go crazy" she said matter-of-factly, looking at the street lights. She nodded to herself before entering the house again.

Klaus followed her inside and they made their way to the living room where Caroline kneeled next to her mother and started absentmindedly brushing the short locks of her mother's hair.

A heartbreaking bawl came out of her mouth as she fell forward resting her heart on her mother's stomach like she used to when she was a child and she felt sad or scared. She had always felt comfort in the warmness of her mother's embraces. But now, Liz would never again murmur soothing word to calm her down. Her hands would never braid her hair. She would never again hold Caroline in her arms and tell her everything would be alright, that she would fix it all for her.

"You can't..." she cried. "You can't be dead. Mom... please... you can't leave me."

Her sobs brought back Klaus' own memory of his mother and how he had wished he could cry over Esther's death like this. Caroline's despair made him wish he had a family he could trust with members who loved him for who he was without trying to change him.

He kneeled down to her side and gently grabbed her shoulder bringing her into his arms.

She wept on his shoulder for what seemed like hours before Stefan walked in on them. "The paramedics are coming, I can hear them from a mile away."

"Mr. Hopkins must have called them" Caroline said, wiping tears from her eyes with one hand, the other squeezing one of Klaus' hand.

"Let me take care of this" Stefan said, "you two leave."

"But my mom..." Caroline cried.

"They'll take good care of her, my love" Klaus said, bringing her hand up to his lips and kissing it lightly. "You can see her later. They will clean her up so the last image you have of her will remain beautiful."

"I can't leave her" she feebly argued, falling back on her knees and grabbing her mom's cold hands in hers.

"Mom, wake up please. Just... come back."

"You don't want that Caroline." Stefan said.

She looked up at him frowning "Why not?"

"Because you want her to be at peace and leave this life behind to embrace the quiescence of the After Life."

Although she couldn't admit it to herself she realized Stefan was right, but the thought of letting her mom go hurt so much, she wasn't sure she would ever be able to live on without her by her side. She summoned enough courage from her heart and looked at her friend with resolution.

"You're right. I can't be selfish, anymore. Not about this" she got back on her feet after closing her mother's eyelids and kissing Liz's forehead.

Klaus took her hand in his and they sped off the backdoor as the paramedic's lights became visible from outside.

* * *

Caroline held on to Klaus' hand. She suddenly felt so weak and tired.

"Klaus... stop please..." she pleaded.

The Hybrid slowed the pace and finally came to a stop.

"I can't live without her" she said.

"Yes you can. Listen to me. You are a strong woman Caroline. Your mother would want you to fight."

She looked at him, trying to make him understand.

"I lost her Klaus. I'm all alone now."

She started crying again, lowering her gaze to the ground.

Klaus cupped her face gently and made her look at him, straight in his intense blue eyes.

"I know you feel like this but do not let these dark feelings annihilate the light that surrounds you and makes you who you are. You are stronger than this Caroline."

"I don't know if I can."

"Listen to me. I will not let you go. No matter what, I will not lose you."

She stared at him wide eyed, taken aback by the intensity in his eyes.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying, that I love you Caroline Forbes, and that I will stand by your side always and forever. I will help you get through this Curse, wether it takes you ten or a hundred years to do so. You will never be alone."

Klaus had taken a leap of faith in telling her these words. He did not know if this would make her run away or what else, he never really had fallen in love with a woman after Tatia and now he was completely vulnerable, opening his heart to Caroline.

It took Caroline a minute to process his words before she jumped in his arms and kissed him.

She would not be alone. She had just lost her mom, she knew she would soon become crazy but she also knew that no matter what Klaus would be by her side, helping her through it all.

Klaus pulled back from the kiss, his features dark and she suddenly felt scared he was going to kill her.

"I should have known you wouldn't stay hidden much longer" he growled. "Are you enjoying the show, mate?"

Klaus turned around and stepped in front of Caroline shielding her from whatever threat he had sensed. She moved aside to see what was going on and she gasped in shock.

"Tyler?"

Tyler gave her a wicked smile "Hello Caroline" he said to her, then turning his gaze at Klaus "I have a few friends here who would like to say hello."

Then one by one, Klaus' twelve former Hybrids – the very ones he had murdered - stepped away from the trees surrounding them, their expression all showed disgust and hatred towards the couple.

"It's payback time" Tyler said before he rushed towards Klaus.

* * *

_At the same time, at the Mayor's house..._

Stefan had just finished compelling the paramedics to keep the story hushed. As he sat down on the porch he saw the youngest of the two men look at Alexander's chest with surprise.

"Nice tattoos" he said to his colleague.

"What tattoo?"

"Are you kidding me?" the young man said. "It's huge."

"Then call me blind."

Stefan looked the young man with interest. Maybe he could help Caroline get through the curse quickly if he got this young man to become a new Hunter.

As he got up to talk to the guy one on one, he felt a menace coming from behind him.

He turned around quickly, fangs out and almost fell backward.

"You..." he said incredulously.

A man with light-brown hair stepped out of the shadows, holding a shotgun made for Hunters. He gave Stefan a predator smile and Stefan had to fight the urges to get on his knees and let the man kill him.

"It has been quite a long time, son."

"Father..."

* * *

Bonnie, Damon and Elijah walked out the house when they were thrown forward, blasted by the explosion of the bungalow they had just exited.

Damon fell face first in the dirt and only with great effort was he able to stand back up.

"Arggghhh" he yelled, pulling at a long piece of glass that had lodged itself in his back, an inch from his heart.

He looked around and spotted Elijah lying on his back.

"Where's Bonnie?" he asked.

* * *

Elena was at the Lake House, waiting for Jeremy to come back from getting the wood for the fireplace. She felt nervous without any news from her friends.

Elena had been so happy when Jeremy came back from the trip to free Silas, although he had come back with a haunted look in his eyes.

There was something different about him and she was not sure what it was.

It had been more than ten minutes since her brother had left and she was now concerned for his safety.

She walked to the door and, the moment she opened it, a stake flew through the air and lodged itself into her chest, a mere centimetre away from her heart.

She fell on her back, the last image she saw before losing conscience was Jeremy aiming his gun at her and a man standing beside him, a satisfied smile plastered on his face.

* * *

To be continued...


End file.
